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THE BAT-TLE OF BUN-KER HILL. 



HISTORY 



BATTLES OF AMERICA 



IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 



BY 



JOSEPHINE POLLARD 



AUTHOR OF " A HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE," "HISTORY OF 
THE OLD TESTAMENT," "HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT," ETC., ETC. 



COP 10 USL V ILL USTRA TED 





GEORGE ROUjTLEDGE AND SONS 

New York : 9 Lafayette Place 
London, Manchester, and Glasgow 



\^- 



w< 



'V 



IN UNIFORM STYLE, 

Words of One Syllable. 
ILLUSTRATED. 



HISTORY OF UNITED STATES 
LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF 

THE UNITED STATES 
HIS TOR V OF ENGLAND 
HIS TOR Y OF FRANCE 
HISTORY OF GERMANY 
HISTOR Y OF IRELAND 
HIS TOR Y OF RUSSIA 
HISTORY OF JAPAN 
HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTA- 
MENT 

HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTA- 
MENT 

HISTOR Y OF THE BA TTLES OF 
AMERICA 



George Routledge & Sons, 

9 Lafayette Place, New York. 



^\<T>\ 



Tn-] 



Copyright, 1889, 
By Joseph L. Blamire. 



PREFACE. 



The author has tried to tell the story of the Amer- 
ican Battles so simply that the young reader will 
know just how, when, and where they were fought, 
and will feel as if with the troops in the camp and 
on the field. Some of the sea-fights will be found 
more fully described in " Our Naval Heroes ^ a 
book published by McLoughlin Brothers. 

J. p. 



CONTENTS 



Lexington . 
Bunker Hill 
Long Island 
Trenton 



CHAPTER I. 



CHAPTER II. 



CHAPTER III. 



CHAPTER IV. 



CHAPTER V. 



Monmouth Court-House 

CHAPTER VI. 
A Traitor in the Camp 



Yorktown . 
The War of 1812 
Lundy's Lane 
In Mexico 



CHAPTER VII. 
CHAPTER VIIL 

CHAPTER IX. 

CHAPTER X. 



PAGE 
I 



• 17 

■ 41 

■ 50 

• 56 
. 66 

■ 75 
^ 85 

• 93 



viii Contents. 

CHAPTER XI. PAGE 

Wars with the Indians c . 102 

CHAPTER XII. 

Bull Run ....... T^/t 

134. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Fort Donelson •••.„.... 148 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Shiloh . . . . . . . . . ^ . ic8 

CHAPTER XV. 
Antietam . o ........ ^ l5r 

CHAPTER XVI. 

ViCKSBURG . . , -174- 

CHAPTER XVII. 
Gettysburg o . . . . . . . . .18c; 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
Lookout Mountain lor 

CHAPTER XIX. 
In the Wilderness 204 

CHAPTER XX. 
Atlanta ........... 207 

CHAPTER XXI. 
With Sheridan . . .214 

CHAPTER XXII. 
Petersburg . , . . . ^ .221 



The Battles of America. 



CHAPTER I. 



LEXINGTON: APRIL 19, 1775. 

IN the year 1620 a band of 
brave men and wom-en, 
called Pu-ri-tans, left Eng- 
land, the Old World, and 
came to A-mer-i-ca, the 
New World, where they 
might be free to serve God 
as they chose. They had 
heard a great deal of this 
New World, and thought 
to dwell there in peace for 
the rest of their days. But they came to shore on a 
cold, bleak coast, at the north-east end of the large 
stretch of land, and here, with but few tools to work 
with, and scant food to eat, they built their homes, 
and made the best that they could of their hard fate. 




2 The Battles of America, 

That part of the New World had for some tune been 
known as New Eng-land, and those who made their 




MON-U-MENT COM-MEM-0-RA-TING THE 

LAND-ING OF THE PIL-GRIMS, 

AT PLY-MOUTH 



homes there were still true to the old flag, and to the 
King who sat on the throne. 

The red men thought that they had the first and 
best right to the land on which they had dwelt for so 
long alime. It was their own, and woe to the pale 
face who would try to wrest it from their hands. 

But man has to fight his way through the world, 



Battle of Lexinotoii 



^ 



from the time he comes in-to it till he goes out of it ; 
not all the while with guns and fire-arms, but in ways 
that tend to make the nerves strong, and the heart 
brave and true. These white men put their trust in 
God, and he gave them strength, and did not let hope 
die out of their hearts. 



AN IN-DIAN VIL-LAGE. 



They had fierce fights with the red men, and much 
blood was shed, their homes were set on fire, their 



The Battles of America. 



wives and babes torn from their arms, and no one's 

life was safe. 

But as the years went on new homes were built, farms 

spread out, and towns sprang up here and there, the 

chief one of which was Bos-ton. 
Here there was a fine bay, and 
to and from this port, ships came 
and went, and a large trade 
was kept up be-tween the Old 
World and the New. 

The French who dwelt in 
Can-a-da were loath to have 
EnQT-land take so much of the 
wealth of the New World, and 
wars with them and with the 
red men were kept up for a 
long term of years. 

In 1768, Brit-ish troops were 
placed in Bos-ton to guard the 

town, and to see that no one broke the King's laws. 

These red-coats were harsh at times, and did so much 

to vex the A-mer-i-cans that they looked on them as 

the worst kind of foes. 

In the year 1774, George the Third, then King of 

Eng-land, sought to gain more pow-er in the New 

World, and to make A-mer-i-cans the slaves of his 

will. His acts were such as to rouse the fierce hate 




GEORGE III. 




COM-MIS-SION-ERS LAND-ING AT BOS-TON. 



The Battles of A luerica. 



of free men, and to put an end to all thoughts of peace 
and good-will. 

Brit-ish troops were sent to Bos-ton to guard the 
ports so that no ships should land with tea, or goods 







^ 1 ' 



' ''11/ /I %\ 



SAMU-EL AD-AMS. 



that did not bear the King's stamp. The A-mer-i- 
cans would not pay the tax the King put on these 
things and made up their minds to do with-out tea, 
and all high-priced goods. 



Battle of Lexinoton. 



Soon food grew scarce, and rich and poor felt the 
scouro;e of the harsh task-mas-ter. Gen-er-al Gaee was 
warned from time to time that if such harsh acts were 
kept up there would soon be war. But he felt no fear, 
as he thought that his well-trained troops would be 
more than a match for these raw Yan-kees. 

Soon was heard the sound of fife and drums, and 
young and old, fa-thers and sons, took part each day 
in the drills that were to teach them how to hold and 
fire their guns, and how to keep step in the line of 
march. 

Each win-ter the Bos-ton boys had found it great 
sport to build mounds of snow on the 
large Park, or Com-mon, which was 
their play-ground. These snow-hills 
the troops would beat down, just to 
vex the boys, who could stand it once 
or twice. But when this sort of thing 
was kept up, the boys were full of 
wrath, and made up their minds that 
Gen-er-al Gage should hear of it. 

So they put on a bold front, and 
when they came near Gen-er-al Gage, 
a tall boy left their ranks and said to 
him, "We come, sir, to ask you to give us our rights." 

"What!" said Gage, "have your fa-thers taught 
you this, and sent you out to show your-selves off?" 




The Battles of A?nerlca. 



"No one sent us here, sir," said the boy, with a 
flash in his eyes that told of the scorn in his heart. 
*'We have done no harm at all to your troops, but 
they trod down our snow-hills and broke up the ice 
on the ponds where we skate. We found fault, and 

they called us young 
reb-els, and told us to 
help our-selves if we 
could. We told the 
cap-tain of this, and he 
laughed at us as if he 
thought it a good joke. 
It is no joke to us, sir. 
For the third time our 
works have been torn 
down, and we will bear 
it no longer." 

Gage felt his heart 
stir with pride at the 
sight of such brave 
boys, and he told them 
that the troops should do no more harm to their play- 
grounds. Then he turned to an of-fi-cer near, and 
said, "Why, e-ven the chil-dren here draw in a love of 
free-dom with the air they breathe." 

Though the Brit-ish were strict and stern, the Yan- 
kees were sharp and sly, and made use of all sorts of 




JOHN HAN-COCK. 



Battle of Lexington. 



tricks to get the can-non balls, powder, and guns out 
of Bos-ton, that they might fit out a force of 15,000 men. 
At length word was brought to Gen-er-al Gage 
that a large stock of guns and war-goods was hid at 
Con-cord, a town less than a score of miles from Bos- 
ton. On the night 
of A-pril 18, 1775, 
he sent 800 of his 
troops to Con- 
cord to seize 
them, and to tear 
down or burn the 
house where 
they were stored. 
These troops 
were in charge of 
Col-o-nel Smith 
and Ma-jor Pit- 
cairn. As soon 




PRO-VIN-CIALS AT CON-CORD. 



as the Yan-kees 

in Bos-ton found where and why the red-coats had 
gone, they at once sent word to Ad-ams and Han- 
cock, two of their chief men, to be on their guard. 
Men were sent here and there to spread the news and 
sound the call "To arms! To arms! The foe is on 
The name of one of these men was Paul Re- 



us 



vere, and he rode at break-neck speed up hill and 



lO 



The Battles of America. 



down dale, till he came to Lex-ing-ton, a town on the 
road to Con-cord, and was the first to tell that the 
Brit-ish were to march that way. 

Bells were runo;, and guns were fired to rouse those 
to arms who dwelt on the hills and plains a-round. 




" TO ARMS ! TO ARMS ! " 



Men left their ploughs in the fields, seized their guns, 
and made haste to join the band that had sworn to 
fi'ee them-selves fi'om the yoke of King George III. 

As soon as Smith heard the fire of the guns, he 
called out part of his troops and told them to go to 
Lex-ing-ton as fast as they could run and seize the 




PAUL RE-VERE. 



12 



The Battles of America. 



bridg-es there. It was five o'clock on the morn of 
A-pril 19 when they reached the place, and the word 
soon spread, and three-score and ten Yan-kee troops at 
once took their place on the green near the road. 




THE SKIR-MISH AT CON-CORD.* 



Ma-jor Pit-cairn, who was at the head of the Brit- 
ish troops, bade the Yan-kees lay down their guns 
and eo back to their homes. When this was not 
done, he sprang from the ranks, drew forth his sword, 
and cried out to his men to fire. 




■^ 



14 The Battles of America. 

The troops with loud cheers ran up the road, and 
fired their guns at the Yan-kees, some of whom were 
killed, and not a few had quite bad wounds. Then 
Smith came up, and the Brit-ish troops moved on 
to Con-cord, which is four miles from Lex-ing-ton. 
Their first act was to spike the big field-guns, and 
to break up the wood-work so that they would be of 
no use. 

To spike a gun is to drive a spike or nail into the 
hole on top, so that it can-not be set off. They then 
threw 500 pounds of bul-lets in-to the streams and 
wells, and spoiled all the flour and food of all sorts 
that they could lay their hands on. 

While these deeds went on more and more Yan- 
kees came in by all the roads, un-til quite a crowd 
was on hand. Some of the Brit-ish that had been 
sent out to scour the land round a-bout Con-cord fell 
in with them and were forced to turn back to the main 
band of troops. As they came in the town of Con- 
cord a fight took place in which a large force of men 
were slain on both sides. 

The Brit-ish found it much too hot for them in Con- 
cord, and made haste to march back to Lex-ing-ton. 
When they came to this place they were so worn out 
that the Yan-kees might have done with them as they 
chose, but for the aid — in the shape of fresh troops — 
that came to them just in the nick of time. As soon as 



Battle of Lexington. 



15 



the worn-out troops had had the rest they were so 
much In need of, the whole force of the Brit-ish took 

up the line of 

march to Bos-ton, 

with two field-guns 

in the rear to keep 

back the Yan-kees, 

who sprang up 

thick and fast, and 

fired at them from 

all sides. A stone- 
wall or e-ven hedge 

would hide these 

sharp - shoot - ers, 

who had a good 

chance to pick their 

men, and wound if 

they did not kill 

these foes of free- 
men. We may be 

,sure that the Brit- 
^""ish were glad when 

at sun-set they had 

reached Charles- 

town, for the day 
had been a hard one, and they had had poor luck. 
The next morn they were in Bos-ton. 





BRIT-ISH GREN-A-DIER 



A-MER-I-CAN RI-FLE-MAN. 



lO 



The Battles of America. 



In the fight at Lex-ing-ton 65 of the Brit-ish were 
slain and 180 had bad wounds to nurse. The A-mer- 
i-cans had 50 killed, and 38 with wounds made by 
Brit-ish guns. 

It was a great blow to the Eng-lish ; and oh ! how 




BAT-TLE OF LEX-ING TON. 



it hurt their pride to think that the King's troops — so 
well-dressed and well-trained — ^had to Q^ive wav be- 
fore such a "flock of Yan-kees" in home-spun suits, 
and with no skill in the art of war ! But these ill-clad 



Battle of Bunker Hill. \^ 

Yan-kees "fought like brave men, one and all," and 
with a dash that seems born in an A-mer-i-can, and 
in the fight at Lex-ing-ton they found out what they 
could do, and it put new strength and hope in their 
hearts. 

Firm in the right, they took their stand 
To drive the foe- men from their land. 



CHAPTER II. 

BUNKER HILL: JUNE 17, 1775. 

At the close of 
May there were 
10,000 red-coats in 
Bos-ton. With the 
fresh troops from 
Eng-land came Gen- 
er-als Howe, Clin- 
ton, and Bur-goyne^ 
who had orreat skill 
in the art of war, 
and had won much 
fame for them-selves 
and their King on 
fields of strife. 
The A-mer-i-cans had 16,000 men, with Gen-er-al 




LORD HOWE. 



iS 



The Battles of A merica. 



Ward at their head, and this force was spread out 
so that the British were quite shut in on the land side. 
The Yan-kees had thrown up a few breast-works 
here and there, and guards were placed at all points 
on the roads as far out as Cam-bridge. 

There were three hills near Bos-ton from whose 




tops one could get a fine view of the town. They 
were known as Bun-ker Hill, Breed's Hill, and 
Copp's Hill. 

It was made known to the A-mer-i-cans that on 
the night of June i8, the Brit-ish would march out 
and take their stand on Bun-ker Hill, near Charles- 



Battle of Bufiker Hill. 



19 



town, and on Dor-ches-ter Heights, south of Bos-ton. 
From both these points they could bring their guns to 




THE DE-FENCE OF BREED S HILL: PRES-COTT IN THE RE-DOUBT. 

bear on the town, and so keep the Yan-kees out of it. 
The A-mer-i-cans made up their minds to put a 



20 The Battles of A 7nerica. 

stop to this fine plan, so on the night of June i6th 
Col-o-nel {Ker-nel) Pres-cott, with looo men and two 
field-guns, set out for Bun-ker Hill, where they 
were to build earth-works and make it an A-mer-i- 
can strong-hold. 

For some cause these troops did not stop at Bun- 
ker Hill, but went on and up Breed's Hill, which 
was quite near Bos-ton, and brought them in range of 
the town and of the ships of war in the bay. All 
night they kept at work with pick-axe and spade, but 
in such a hush that not a sound was heard by those on 
guard in the town, and by day-light a strong fort 
loomed up on the hill-top, where when the sun last set 
there had been naught but green grass. 

It was first seen at four o'clock in the morn-ing by 
the cap-tain of one of the ships of war, who at once 
be-gan to play up-on the A-mer-i-cans with his 
can-non. The noise woke up the whole town of 
Bos-ton, and the folks there — Brit-ish and Yan- 
kees — could scarce be-lieve their eyes when they 
saw what had been done in the few brief hours of 
the night. 

Gen-e-ral Gage saw at once that if the A-mer-i-cans 
had a strong-hold on Breed's Hill they would soon 
drive him and his troops from the town, so he placed 
six of his large field-guns on Copp's Hill, and from 
there sent a storm of shot and shell at the A-mer-i-cans, 



Battle of Bunker Hill. 



21 



which failed to do them much harm. Some of the 
guns of the fleet fired at them al-so, but still they kept 
on at their task and 
built up the fort — or 
re-dotibt — which is 
the right name for that 
kind of earth-works. 
At noon the red-coats, 
3000 strong, led by 
Gen - er - al Howe, 
went in boats to 
Charles-town to storm 
the earth-works there. 
They found the fort 
so strong, that Howe 
thought it best to wait 
for more troops. At 
this time the A-mer- 
i-cans had a chance to 
add one more to their 
force, a Doc-tor Jo- 
seph War-ren, whom 
they at once made 
Ma-jor-Gen-er-al. Gen-er-al Put-nam was the chief 
one in com-mand and went back and forth a-long the 
lines with words of help and cheer. 

Crowds swarm on the hill-tops, on church-spires 




JO-SEPH WAR-REN. 



22 The Battles of America. 

and roofs, and wait and watch with hearts full of dread 
to see the fight be-gin. 

At one o'clock the Brit-ish moved in two lines on the 
Amer-i-cans in Charles-town and drove them back, 
for they were in fear that they might be cut off from 
the main force of troops. 

At a word from Gen-er-al Gage Charles-town was 
set on fire; the flames spread, and soon there was not 
a house left in the whole place. This act, for which 
there was no need, cast a gloom o-ver the A-mer-i-cans, 
and made the fierce fires of hate glow with more 
warmth in their breasts. 

The dense smoke from Charles-town filled the air, 
and hung like a veil be-tween the A-mer-i-cans and 
the Brit-ish. The red-coats hoped the smoke would 
hide them so that they could rush up to the breast- 
works, scale them, and drive the Yan-kees out at the 
point of their guns. 

But a breeze came up out of the west — the first 
that had been felt that day — and swept the smoke 
sea- ward, and left the Brit-ish troops in full view of the 
A-mer-i-cans. 

The Brit-ish, borne down with the weight of their 
knap-sacks and the heat of the sun, moved up the slope 
of Breed's Hill at a slow pace. Gen-er-al Howe had 
charge of the right wing, Gen-er-al Pig-ot of the left. 

All was still in the re-doubt, and but few men. 



Battle of Bunker Hill. 2^ 

could be seen by the red-coats on their way up the 
heights ; but with-in the breast-works, and on the hills 
at the rear, 500 A-mer-i-cans lay hid, and at a sign 
from their chief would spring up in haste and fall up- 
on the foe. As they had no shot to waste, Pres-cott told 
them not to fire un-til the Brit-ish were so near that 
the whites of their eyes could be seen. " Then," he 
said, "aim at their waist-bands, and be sure to pick off 
those in com-mand who wear the hand-some coats." 

At length, when the foe came to the right place, Pres- 
cott drew his sword, waved it on high, and at the shout 
oi Fire! the A-mer-i-cans poured their shot in-to the 
ranks of the British and cut them down as the scythe 
cuts the grass in the field. This was kept up un-til 
the Brit-ish gave way and fled back to their boats. 
Few troops could be brought to Breed's Hill ere the 
next at-tack was made. The Brit-ish troops marched 
on the re-doubt in the same way they had done at first 
with Gen-er-al Howe in the van ; for he had said to his 
men," If the foe will not come out of their strong-holds 
we must drive them out, or else the town of Bos-ton 
will be set on fire by them. I shall not ask one of you 
to go a step fur-ther than where I go my-self at you^ 
head." 

It took Gen-er-al Howe so long to bring up his 
troops for the third at-tack that the A-mer-i-cans had a 
chance to rest from the toils of the day. Their small 



24 The Battles of America. 

stock of pow-der and ball was well nigh spent, and 
most of their mus-kets were the old flint-locks that had 
no points of steel. But the men made up their minds 
to use their guns as clubs when the pow-der gave out, 
if need be to fire stones, in place of shot, and to fight 
with a will as long as there was a ray of hope to cheer 
them on. 

Put-nam in the mean time had to form the troops on 
Bun-ker Hill, and get fresh corps in by way of the 
strip of land, known as The Neck, which was be-tween 
the Mys-tic and the Charles Riv-ers. The Brit-ish 
had their ships of war in both these streams, and kept 
up such a fire that Put-nam had hard work to get his 
troops past this nar-row cause-way. 

Gen-er-al Howe had found out a weak point be- 
tween the breast-works and the rail fence, and there 
he meant to lead the left wing with the field-guns, while 
a show of at-tack was made on the oth-er side. It was 
quite late in the day when the Brit-ish troops set out, 
and as they came up the hill they swept the breast- 
work with their guns, from end to end, and not a few 
of the A-mer-i-cans were slain. Those that were left 
went back in-to the re-doubt, from whence they made 
each shot tell. Gen-er-al Howe had a wound in his 
foot, but still fought at the head of his men, and led 
them on un-til but a brido^e of earth was be-tween 
them and their Yan-kee foes. This they scaled, and 













DEATH OF MA-JOR PIT-CAIRN. 



26 . The Battles of America. 

the first man to leap on top of the wall was met with a 
show-er of stones, which must have scared him more 
than would the shot of a orun. 

Ma-jor Pit-cairn, who led the troops at Lex-ing-ton, 
sprang up on the wall, and was shot at by a black man, 
who gave him his death-wound. Hand to hand the 
foe-men fought, but so large was the force of Brit-ish 
troops that the A-mer-i-cans had to leave the re-doubt, 
and yet so loath were they to give up the fight that 
some of them w^ent back-wards and dealt hard blows 
right and left with their gun-stocks. 

War-ren was the last man that left the works, and 
when not far from them, on the way to Bun-ker Hill^ 
he was shot through the head and fell dead at once. 
The A-mer-i-cans at the rail fence had stood firm up 
to this time, and kept back the Brit-ish who sought 
to turn their flank. But when they saw the troops 
with their chief in flight from the fort, they too fled 
from the foe and thought the day was lost. In vain 
did Put-nam run back and forth like a mad-man, and 
cry out to them, '' Make a stand here ! We can stop 
them yet! In God's name, fire, and give them one 
shot more ! " The whole force went pell-mell a-cross 
The Neck, and not a few of them were slain by the 
guns from the Brit-ish ships at that point. The 
Brit-ish troops were too worn out to keep up the 
chase so lay on their arms all night on Bun-ker Hill, 



Battle of Bunker Hill. 



27 



while the A-mer-i-cans did the same on Pros-pect 
Hill, a mile off. Two Brit-ish field-guns played on 
them, but did slight harm, and as both sides felt loath 
to go on with the 
fight they had kept 
up for two hours, it 
now came to an end, 
and there was peace 
for a while. 

It was a drawn 
fight; that is, nei- 
ther side could 
claim to have won 
it ; and, though there 
were brave deeds 
done on Bun-ker 
Hill and much 
blood shed, it was 
on Breed's Hill the 
chief scenes took 
place. The A-mer- 
i-cans lost 450 men. 
The Brit-ish loss 
was 1000 ; a large part of whom were men of high 
rank. The death of War-ren was a great blow to the 
A-mer-i-cans ; and at the close of the war a mon-u- 
ment was put up on the spot where he fell. It stood 




THE MON-U-MENT AT BUN-KER HILL. 



28 The Battles of America. 

for two-score years, and was torn down to make way 
for the tall shaft now known as Bun-ker Hill Mon-u- 
ment, which took near two-score years to build. The 
base is 30 feet square ; and to reach the top you will 
have to climb 295 stone steps. 

On Ju-ly 2, 1775, Gen-er-al George Wash-ing-ton 
came up from the South to take his place at the head 
of the A-mer-i-can troops, and to train them so that 
they would be less like a wild mob. 

He found near 15,000 men in camp be-fore Bos-ton, 
where they held the Brit-ish in a state of siege. The 
Brit-ish troops did all the harm they could with their 
ships on the coast, and set fire to some of the small 
towns on the sea-port, but these acts put the Yan-kees 
more on their guard, and made them stand by their 
guns. 

Then the cold win-ter set in, and the Brit-ish had 
hard work to find food to eat. Some of their store- 
ships were seized by the Yan-kees, and this they felt 
to be a great loss. On the morn of Feb-ru-a-ry 14, 
1776, Gen-er-al Howe, who now led the red-coats in 
place of Gen-er-al Gage, sent some troops o-ver the ice 
to Dor-ches-ter Neck and burnt a few of the houses 
there. 

Wash-ing-ton at once saw that his best plan was to 
march to Dor-ches-ter Heights, which are south of 
Bos-ton, and make this a strong-hold, so that the Brit- 



Battle of Bunker Hill. 



29 



ish would be, as it were, be-tween two fires. So, on 
the night of March 4, a strong force of Yan-kees set 
out to cross Dor-ches-ter Neck, and as soon as they 




THE MAS-SA-CRE AT BOS-TON. 



reached the Heights, they went to work with a will to 
build the earth-works to screen them from the fire of 
Brit-ish guns. 

This was no small task, as there was a thick coat of 



30 The Battles of America. 

ice on the ground, and the earth was frost-bound to a 
great depth. But Wash-ing-ton kept up such a fire 
with his field-guns at the north, that the noise of pick- 
axe and spade was not heard by the Brit-ish, and by 
day-light the A-mer-i-cans had built two forts on the 
Heights and made the place in-deed a strong-hold. 

When Gen-er-al Howe saw these works, he said 
the A-mer-i-cans had done more in one night than 
the whole of his troops would have done in a month. 
He made up his mind to drive the Yan-kees from the 
Heights with the aid of his ships of war, and the fight 
was to take place the next day. But in the night a 
fierce storm came up that drove some of his ships 
a-shore on one of the isles, and the next day it rained 
so hard that the at-tack could not be made. 

This gave the Yan-kees time to add to their strength, 
and the red-coats saw that it would be sure death for 
them to face so strong a force. They saw that they 
were caught in a trap, from which there was but one 
way to get out, and the Brit-ish troops and their friends 
were in great haste to quit the town. 

They set sail March 17, 1776, and as the last of the 
Brit-ish went out of Bos-ton Gen-er-al Wash-ing-ton 
came in with his troops and was hailed with shouts of 
joy by those who were glad to be freed from Brit-ish 
rule, and with their own friends once more. 



Battle of Long Island. 



31 



CHAPTER III. 

LONG ISLAND: AUGUST 27, 1776. 

When Gen-er-al Howe left Bos-ton it was thought 
that he meant to join the Brit-ish fleet then near 
New York. So the next day Wash-ing-ton sent five 
reg-i-ments, in charge of Gen-er-al Heath, to that 




HAL-I-FAX. 



town, and soon came up with all the rest of the troops, 
and at once set them to work to build forts at New 
York and on Long Isl-and. 

Gen-er-al Howe had not orone to New York, but 
to Hal-i-fax, where he staid for some time to give his 



32 The Battles of America. 

troops the rest they had need of, and that the sick 
ones mio^ht have a chance to o^ain their health and 
strength. As soon as all were well he set sail for the 
south, and on July 2, landed on Stat-en Isl-and with a 
force of 9000 men. His broth-er. Lord Howe, Ad- 
mi-ral of the Brit-ish fleet, soon came up with his ships 
of war fresh from Eng-land, on board of which were 
at least 20,000 men. 

Wash-ina"-ton's whole force was not more than 
20,000, and his raw, ill-armed, ill-trained troops were 
a poor match for the well-drilled red-coats. But he 
made the best use that he could of the means that he 
had, and sent Gen-er-al Greene to Long Isl-and to 
cast up strong earth-works back of Brook-lyn. Greene 
soon fell sick, and Gen-er-al Sul-li-van took his place 
with Gen-er-al Put-nam chief in com-mand. 

If you will look on a map of New York you will 
see that the shore of Stat-en Isl-and is quite near the 
shore of Long Isl-and. The space be-tween them is 
called The Nar-rows. 

On Au-gust 22, 1776, Gen-er-al Howe, with 
15,000 troops, crossed The Nar-rows and landed on 
Long Isl-and near Graves-end. There was a range of 
hills, thick with woods, from The Nar-rows to Ja-mai- 
ca, through which the roads ran here and there. 
Wash-ing-ton gave strict or-ders that guards were to 
be kept at all these roads ; but Sul-li-van did not see 



Battle of Long Island. 



33 



the need of it, and did not stretch his lines out as far 

as he should have done. He saw his mis-take too late. 

The A-mer-i-cans, 8000 strong, were in camp in 

Brook-lyn, just a-cross from New York. On their 




GEN-E-RAL GREENE. 



right flank was a long, low marsh, and on their left a 
bend in the East Riv-er, known as Wal-la-bout Bay. 
It was plain to be seen that the Brit-ish meant to gain 
the rear of the A-mer-i-cans by the Bed-ford and 
Ja-mai-ca roads, and 2500 men were at once put ox^ 
guard at these points. 



34 The Battles of A m erica. 

On Au-gust 26, the Brit-ish set out in charge of Sir 
Hen-ry Clin-ton and Lord Corn-wal-lis, and at three 
o'clock the next morn-ino^ word came to Put-nam that 
the Brit-ish had made their way through the pass near 
where Green-wood now is. Put-nam at once sent 
Stir-ling with a force of troops to drive them back. 
Near Gow-an-us Creek Stir-ling was met by a large 
force of red-coats, and in the Bay on his right flank were 
some of Howe's ships with well-armed. men on board. 

At the same time the Ger-mans in the pay of the 
Brit-ish were on their way to force the pass at a point 
to the east — where Pros-pect Park now is — while 
Howe, with the main force of the Brit-ish, led by Clin- 
ton and Corn-wal-lis, sought to gain the rear of the 
A-mer-I-cans through the Bed-ford pass. 

The A-mer-i-cans stood firm, with their guns and 
their eyes fixed on the foe. From be-hind breast- 
work and tree they looked down, and felt no fear, when 
lo ! the roar of guns in the rear of their left flew through 
the lines and told a tale of woe. The Brit-ish had 
turned their left flank, and they were be-tween two 
fires ! While Sul-li-van tried to keep the Ger-mans 
at bay, Clin-ton had gained his rear and fell on him, 
and drove him back on the Ger-mans. There was a 
sharp hand-to-hand fight, and when Sul-li-van saw 
there was no chance for his men he bade them make 
haste for the camp while there was yet time. 



Battle of Long Island. 



35 



It was too late! As they came out of the woods 
they were met by the guns of the Brit-ish, and when 
the A-mer-i-cans found there was no way out but 
through the ranks of the foe, they fought with skill and 
strength, and were 
most brave and bold. 
Some forced their 
way through to the 
camp, some fled to 
the woods, a large 
part of them were 
slain, and not a few 
fell in-to the hands of 
the foe. Sul-li-van 
was caught in a field 
of corn. 

Stir-ling and his 
troops were the last 
of the A-mer-i-cans 
left in the field, and 
for four hours they 
fought the Brit-ish, 
whose force was much lar-ger than their own. No 
fresh troops came to their aid, and when the Brit-ish 
war-ships fired their guns at the fort at Red Hook 
In their rear. Stir-ling bade his troops flee for their lives. 

The bridge at Gow-an-us Creek, near which they 




SIR HEN-RY CLIN-TON. 



36 The Battles of America. 

fought, was in flames, and the men had to ford the 
creek, which was thick with mud. Lord Corn-wal-lis 
tried to stop their flight, but was held back by Lord 
Stir-ling, who fought with him till all the A-mer-i-cans 
had crossed but sev-en, who were drowned. 

That night the A-mer-i-can camp was a scene of 
grief and woe, for they mourned the loss of dear 
friends, and knew not what was the fate of those who 
foil into the hands of the foe. It is said that Gen-er- 
al Wood-hull, who failed to guard the Bed-ford road, 
was seized by the Brit-ish on his way home, and cut 
to bits be-cause he would not say " God save the 
King." 

The Brit-ish held the ground they had won, and 
spent the night in a mad sort of joy. The next day 
a fierce rain-storm set in, which kept A-mer-i-cans 
and Brit-ish in their own camps, and gave the worn- 
out men a chance to rest. 

Wash-ing-ton had not slept for two days, and his 
mind was ill at ease, for he thought that Lord Howe 
would push on and at-tack the camp at Brook-lyn. 
This he did not do, but threw up earth-works near 
Fort Greene, and laid plans for a long siege. Fresh 
troops were sent to Wash-ing-ton from the north end 
of Man-hat-tan Isl-and, but even with these he could 
not hope to beat the Brit-ish, so he made up his mind 
to steal out of their clutch-es. 



Battle of Long Island. 



2>1 



On the night of Au-gust 29, 1776, a thick fog 

hung o-ver New York Bay, through which not a 

glimpse could be seen of the Brit-ish fleet. And 

strong as was the Ad-mi-ral's spy-glass he could not 

__ ^_ -_^ make out the shore of 

New York, or tell 
what friend or foe was 
do-ing there. 

In the A-mer-i-can 



camp, on Brook-lyn 
Heights, there was a 
hush and a stir that 
told that some great 
deed was to be done. 
The troops stole out 
and made haste to the 
fer-ry, and in boats 
that lay in wait for 
them crossed over the 
East Riv-er, and, be- 
ing hid by the dense 




MOUTH OF THE 
HUD-SON RIV-ER. 



foQT, land-ed safe on the New York side. 



A wo-man who lived near the fer-ry, and knew what 
was going on, sent her black man to tell the Brit-ish 
of the flight of the A-mer-i-cans ; but he came up to 
a Ger-man guard, who did not know a word that he 
said, and would not let him pass, so he had to turn 



38 ' The Battles of America. 

back with his tale not told. On the morn of Au-gust 
30, the Brit-ish pick-et — that is, the man on guard at 
a point far from the camp, or the main lines — saw no 
signs of life a-bout the A-mer-i-can lines. This was 
a strange thing, and he set off at once to find out the 
cause. He crept near the earth-works, peeped in the 
camp, and saw — no one. Then he gave a great 
shout, and the rest of the out-guards came up with a 
rush to seize the earth-works, and they saw in mid- 
stream, out of gun-shot, the last of the boats which had 
borne the A-mer-i-cans a-cross that night. In a small 
boat, or barge, there sat an A-mer-i-can of-fi-cer with 
a calm and proud mien, and a smile on his face that 
told of the joy he felt as a glance at the shore showed 
him that his troops were out of the reach of the foe. 
This was George Wash-ing-ton. 

When Gen-er-al Howe found out what had been 
done, and how the game had slipped out of his hands, 
he swore a big oath, raised the Brit-ish flag in the 
camp on Brook-lyn Heights, and laid plans to seize 
New York with the A-mer-i-can troops in it. 

In the mean-time the head men of the A-mer-i-cans 
sought to make peace with the foe, but Lord Howe 
did not like the terms, and the war went on. 

On Sep-tem-ber 15, Gen-er-al Clin-ton, with 4000 
men, crossed the East Riv-er in flat-boats, came on 
shore at Kipp's Bay, and took post on some high 




GEORGE WASH-ING-TON. 



40 The Battles of America. 

ground a-bout five miles north of New York. The 
A-mer-i-cans set to guard that place were so scared by 
the noise of the guns from the ships-of-war, that they 
fled at sight of the foe and did not fire a shot. Wash- 
ing-ton met them on the road, drew his sword, and 
tried to bring them up in-to shape. But it was no 
use ; and his ser-vant seized the reins of his horse and 
turned him away from the foe. 

The rest of the Brit-ish troops soon joined those of 
CHn-ton, and fought their way through the A-mer-i- 
can ranks, and took New York. The A-mer-i-cans 
took their stand at Har-Iem, nine miles off, but lest 
Gen-er-al Howe should hem them in, Wash-ing-ton 
moved his troops to King's-bridge, and so on from 
place to place as the Brit-ish drove them. His men 
were ill-armed, and worse clad, they had but few tents, 
and no pots or pans in which to cook their food, and 
would have stood no chance in a fight with so large a 
force as Howe had with him. So there was naught to 
do but to fall back and wait for fresh troops. The 
red-coats kept close at their heels, and fear spread 
through the land and peace seemed a long way off. 



Baffle of Tr en foil. 



41 




VIEW LOOK-ING UP THE DEL-A-WARE RIV-ER. 



TRENTON: DECEMBER 26, 1776. 



Win-ter had set in when Wash-ing-ton and his 
troops crossed the Del-a-ware, and it was no part 
of Gen-er-al Howe's plan to lead his men out to fight 
at such a time of the year, when ice and snow were on 
the o^round. So he brouQ^ht them to a halt at Tren- 
ton, and sent corps {kors) of Bnt-ish troops to the 
towns near at hand, and as far off as Prince-ton, New 
Bruns-wick, and E-liz-a-beth town. 



42 The Battles of America. 

So sure was he that the war would soon be broueht 
to an end, and the Brit-ish win the day, that he took 
no care to guard the weak points on the shore of the 
stream, and not a gun was to be seen there. For he 
had no thought that the reb-els, who for two months 
had kept up their flight, would dare to turn and face 
the foe from whom they fled. 

The A-mer-i-cans were weighed down with a sense 
of gloom, and but for the brave heart of the Com-mand- 
er-in-chief, George Wash-ing-ton, all would have been 
lost. He would not yield to Brit-ish rule; he knew 
no such word as fail. He went here and there to rouse 
men to take up arms and drive the foe from the land, 
and by this means raised his force from 2000 to 6000 
men. When he learned how far Gen-er-al Howe had 
stretched out his lines, Wash-ing-ton said, '' Now is 
the time to clip their wings when they are so spread ; '* 
and at once be-gan a plan of at-tack. 

Now the King's troops at Tren-ton were Ger-mans, 
in charge of Col-o-nel Rail, and Wash-ing-ton knew 
that they thought a great deal of Christ-mas, and would 
make much of the day, and keep up their feasts till a 
late hour. They would be off their guard, and that 
was the time for the A-mer-i-cans to pounce down 
up-on them. 

A band of scouts on horse-back, who had been 
through Jer-sey and knew naught of Wash-ing-ton's 



44 The Battles of America. 

scheme, came on the Ger-man camp at Tren-ton, and 
a few shots were fired from both sides. Rail had heard 
that an at-tack was to be made and thought that this 
was the whole of it, and so took his ease and kept 
Christ-mas with his friends in Ger-man style. 

When night set in, Wash-ing-ton brought 2000 of 
his troops down to the shore of the Del-a-ware at a 
point five miles above Tren-ton, where they were to 
cross the strearti, which was full of great lumps of ice. 
The tide was swift, the night was dark, and oh ! so cold ! 
and at mid-night a storm of snow and sleet set in. 

But Wash-ing-ton kept on — boats were brought up 
in haste, and by day-light the troops stood in line of 
march on the New Jer-sey shore. They moved in 
two lines : one led by Sul-li-van, who was to keep the 
riv-er road ; while the oth-er, with Wash-ing-ton at the 
head, took a road that led off to the left. The roads 
were a glare of ice in some parts, and the men could 
scarce keep their feet, yet in spite of all these ills the 
brave men kept on their way. It was eight o'clock 
when they reached Tren-ton, but so still had been 
their march that they were not seen nor heard till they 
came to the pick-et line on the edge of the town. 

Then the sound of the guns woke Rail and his of- 
fi-cers from their deep sleep, and there was a great stir 
in the camp. Rail, who was a brave man, soon had 
his men un-der arms, and made a bold stand to meet 



Battle of Trenton. 



45 



and crush the reb-el foe. There was a sharp fight 
for half an hour, in the midst of which Col-o-nel 
Rail met with his death-wound and had to be borne 
from the field. His men found the fire of the A-mer- 
i-can euns so hot for them that a-bout looo threw down 




VIEW OF WASH-ING-TON S QUAR-TERS AT MOR-RIS-TOWN. 

their arms and gave them-selves up as pris-on-ers, and 
the rest — most of whom were light horse-men — took 
to their heels. But few of the Ger-mans were killed, 
and the A-mer-i-cans lost but four or five men, some 
of whom froze to death that cold, cold night. 



46 Tlie Battles of Amei'ica. 

Wash-ing-ton and his troops crossed the Del-a-ware 
a-gain, and took with them the spoils they had won in 
the fight: 1000 Ger-mans, 1200 small-arms — that is, 
such fire-arms as are borne in the hand — six brass 
field-guns, and all the Ger-man flags, both large and 
small. 

This was a great prize and sent a thrill of joy through 
the A-mer-i-cans, who had been cast down for so long 
a time. A fresh hope took hold of their hearts. They 
felt that there was a turn of the tide ; and Wash-ing-ton, 
in whom they had great faith, was urged by some to 
push on and add to the fame he had won, and drive 
the Brit-ish from the land. 

This he would have been glad to do, but it was 
thought best not to force a fight, but to wait and see 
what course the foe would take. 

The Brit-ish troops in Jer-sey made raids on the 
farms and homes through the state, stole all they could 
lay their hands on, and by their acts drove the men to 
arms. Cheered by the news from Tren-ton, and stung 
by the harsh acts of the red-coats, those who had kept 
close at home and felt no call to fight now took down 
their guns and went forth with brave hearts to lay down 
their lives, if need be, to save the land they loved from 
Brit-ish rule. 

Thus there was a crreat rain to the A-mer-i-can force, 
and in the year of 1777, e-lev-en bat-ties took place m 



Battle of Trenton. 



47 



the small state of New Jer-sey, some of which were won 
by the Brit-ish and some by the A-mer-i-cans. 

In the month of June Gen-er-al Howe left New 
York with 30,000 men and took up his post at New 
Bruns-wick. Wash-ing- 
ton was at Mor-ris-town 
with less than 8000 men, 
and some of these not fit 
to take the field. Gen- 
er-al Howe sought to 
draw Wash-ing-ton out 
of his strono^-hold and oret 
him in a tight place 
where there would be 
more of a chance for the 
Brit-ish; but as Wash- 
ing-ton would not leave 
his camp, Howe went 
back and did all the harm 
that he could on his march 
to New Bruns-wick. 

In Ju-ly Ad-mi-ral 
Howe brought his ships-of-war up the Del-a-ware, 
and Wash-ing-ton at once moved his troops to Phil- 
a-del-phia, to guard that town. Here a fierce fight 
took place, and Wash-ing-ton was forced to fall back 
as far as Ches-ter, eio^ht miles from the Brit-ish lines. 




48 



The Bailees of Afnerica. 



Ben-ja-min Frank-lin, one of the great men of that 
time, and a stanch friend to A-mer-i-ca, was vexed at 
the good-will shown to the red-coats by a large part of 
the towns-folk, and said: "Howe did not take Phil-a- 




IN-DE-PEND-ENCE HALL, PHIL-A-DEL-PHIA. 



del-phia ; Phil-a-del-phia took Howe." And the most 
of folks like to be on the side that wins. 

Through the fall of the year Wash-ing-ton and his 
men were in camp at White-marsh, a fine stretch of 
low-land 14 miles from Phil-a-del-phia. Here they 



Battle of Trenton. 



49 



Staid till De-cem-ber ii, 1777, when they set out for 

Val-ley Forge, a score of miles north of Phil-a-del-phia, 

as there they would be more safe from the foe, and 

could serve as a guard for the Con-gress, which had 

fled from Phil-a-del- 

phia, and was then at 

the town of York. 
Such a march as that 

was ! No pen can write 

— no brush can paint — 

no tongue can tell the 

woes of that brave band 

of 1 1 ,000 men, more than 
half of whom were not fit 
to be out of their beds. 
The cold blast cut like 
a knife through the 
clothes that hung on 
their backs in rags. The 
ground was hard and 
rough for their bare feet, and they left a trail of blood 
to mark the path they trod to Val-ley Forge. 

Here they had naught but rude log huts to live in, 
which they built them-selves, and which were but a 
poor screen from the rough winds, for these poor ill- 
clad, half-starved men. 

At this time the Mar-quis de La-fay-ette — a young 




LA-FAY-ETTE. 



50 The Battles of America. 

man of great wealth — came from France to lend his aid 
to the A-mer-i-can cause. The news that the French 
king would send troops and lend what aid he could 
to A-mer-i-ca sent a thrill through the camp at Val- 
ley Forge. A day was set a-part in which to give 
thanks to God ; guns were fired ; shouts and cheers 
were heard and loud cries of " Loner live the Kinor of 
France!" 

With New Year came good food and clothes, and 
good cheer to those at Val-ley Forge; and, as fresh 
troops had been sent to him, Wash-ing-ton broke up 
the camp, and on June i8 set out to chase the Brit- 
ish through New Jer-sey as soon as they should leave 
Phil-a-del-phia. 



CHAPTER V. 

MON-MOUTH COURT-HOUSE: JUNE 28, 1778. 

The Brit-ish troops in Phil-a-del-phia had a grand 
good time, and were as gay as they could be, while 
those at the north, near Can-a-da, fought hard, with the 
red men to help them, to drive the A-mer-i-cans from 
their strong-holds on that line. Word came from Eng- 
land to push the work at the north, and at day-break 
of June 18, 1778, Gen-er-al Howe set out from Phil-a- 



Battle of Moiiiiwiith Court-House. 



51 



del-phia to join the main force, which was to be led by 
Gen-er-al Bur-goyne. That night Howe and his men, 
17,000 strong, went in-to camp at Cam-den, New 
Jer-sey. 

As soon as Wash-ing-ton heard of their move, he 
broke up the camp at 
Val-ley Forge, and 
at once gave chase to 
the foe. It was Clin- 
ton's plan to march to 
New Bruns-wick, and 
go by boats from there 
to New York. But 
as soon as he found 
out that Wash-ing- 
ton was on his track, 

he turned at Al-len- , ^^^ .^ ^^«s«»,-~x^-. ^-^ 
town and took the Mfc^r l^^^^^ "r-^^ \v 'A 

road to Mon-mouth 
Court House, so as to 
make his way to San- 
dy Hook, and thence 
to New York by boats. 

Wash-ing-ton kept on a line with him, so as to strike 
him at the first chance. But Clin-ton did not wish to 
fight, for he was in no trim to meet a foe. He had 
charge of all the vans and the camp-stores, and there 




BUR GOYNE. 



52 The Battles of America. 

was with him a host of men who served the camp, so 
that his Hne was twelve miles in length. He set up 
his camp near the court-house in Free-hold, on 
June 27, and there Wash-ing-ton made up his mind to 
strike him, if he should move the next day, so that he 
could not reach Mid-die-town Heights, which would 
give him a fine strong-hold. 

Gen-er-al Charles Lee led the van of the A-mer-i- 
can troops. But he was not true to the cause, and had 
no wish to check Clin-ton's march through New Jer- 
sey, and found fault all the time. 

When word came to Wash-ing-ton the next day — 
June 28 — a hot Sun-day — that Clin-ton was a-bout 
to move, he told Lee to fall on the rear of the Brit-ish 
and force them to fight. Lee seemed to have no plan 
of his own, and was so slow that he gave Clin-ton 
time to get his troops in line, and his orders were so 
queer that his gen-er-als sent word to Wash-ing-ton 
to come on the field at once, and with all his troops. 

While Wayne led an at-tack that he was sure 
would go hard with the foe, Lee came up and urged 
him to draw back and make a feint at that point ; that 
is, give them a scare and do them no harm. Just then 
Clin-ton changed front and sent a large force, on horse 
and on foot, to at-tack Wayne. 

La-fay-ette, who thought there was now a good 
chance to gain the rear of the Brit-ish, rode up in 



Battle of Monmouth Court- House. 



53 



haste to Lee and asked If he might not move on them. 

At first Lee said No; but when he saw how much 

the Mar-quis wished to go, he told him to wheel his 

troops to the right and strike Clin-ton's left. At the 

same time he sent some of Wayne s men off to give 

strength to the right; 

and erelong bade 

the whole of the 

right fall back, and 

the troops in his 

charge were soon in 

full flight, with the 

Brit-ish in hot 

chase. 

Wash-ing-ton 
was on his way with 
the main force to aid 
Lee, when he was 
met with the news 
that the van-guard 
had turned back. 
Lee had sent him 
word of this, and if these troops came up on a run it 
would put the whole force to flight. 

Wash-ing-ton was in a rage, and when he met Lee 
he rode up to him, and in a stern voice asked him the 
cause of this wild rout. Lee took no blame to him-self. 




GEN-ER-AL C. LEE. 



54 Battles of America. 

and there was no time for a war of words. Wash-ine- 
ton wheeled his horse, and rode to the rear, and bade 
Os-wald take post on a hill near by with two large 
field-guns. 

These guns, aimed with skill, soon held the foe in 
check. It roused the hearts of the troops to have 
Wash-ing-ton near them, and in a short time the flight 
was at an end. 

The troops were then brought up on a height, where 
Sfir-ling had placed a lot of can-non, with Gen-er-al 
Greene in com-mand on the right and Stir-ling on the 
left. 

The two foes — the Brit-ish and the A-mer-i-cans — 
were now face to face. The Brit-ish, 7000 strong, 
were on a road in the midst of deep swamps. Their 
horse-men tried at first to turn the A-mer-i-cans' left 
flank, but were swept back, much to their shame. 
Then the troops on foot came up, and there was a 
sharp fight, in which all the guns, great and small, took 
part. For awhile there was doubt which side would 
win, when Gen-er-al Wayne came up with fresh troops 
and claimed the day for A-mer-i-ca. Col-o-nel 
Monck-ton saw at once that the Brit-ish might have a 
chance if they could get rid of Wayne, so he led his 
troops to a bay-o-net charge. 

So fierce was Wayne's storm of bul-lets up-on them 
that all the Brit-ish of-fi-cers were slain, and the brave 



Battle of Monmouth Court-House. 



55 



^d^^T-^^^ 



Monck-ton fell at the head of his troops, as he waved 
his sword, and gave the shout to urge them on. His 
men then fell back to the heights where Lee had been 
in the morn-ino^. 

Night set in, and the worn-out troops — A-mer-i-cans 
and Brit-ish — lay down to rest, that they might have 
strength to go on with the fight as soon as day broke. 

But at mid-night Clin-ton 
with-drew his troops through 
the deep sands of the roads, and 
was far on his way to San-dy 
Hook when the A-mer-i-cans 
first knew of his flight. Wash- 
ing-ton did not give chase, and 
so the red-coats made their way 
back to New York, with the loss 
of looo men, at least three score 
of whom had died from the heat. 
The A-mer-i-cans lost more 
than 50 men from the same cause. The whole loss 
of the A-mer-i-cans was 228. Wash-ing-ton took up 
his march north-ward, and went in-to camp at White 
Plains, New York, till late in the fall. 

All through the year 1779 war was rife at the North 
and the South, and fierce were the fights with the red 
men and the Brit-ish. As their foes gained ground, 
the hearts of the A-mer-i-cans were full of crloom, and 




AN-THO-NY WAYNE. 



56 The Battles of America. 

yet they would not yield, nor join in the cry of " God 
save the Kinor." 

At the close of the year Sir Hen-ry Clin-ton left 
New York with 8000 troops, and some of the ships of 
the line, to make an at-tack on the states of the South, 
and to bring the war to an end as soon as he could. 
A storm drove the fleet out of its course, some of the 
ships were seized by the A-mer-i-cans, some lost at 
sea, and when he reached Sa-van-nah he was in poor 
trim, and had to stay there for some time. 

The folks through the South were tired of war and 
longed for peace, and it was no hard task for Clin-ton 
to get men to join his side and take up arms for the 
Crown. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A TRAITOR IN THE CAMP. 

In the spring of 1780 Wash-ing-ton saw there was 
need of more troops in the Car-o-li-nas, and a large 
force was sent there, with Gen-er-al Gates as their 
chief Up to this time the A-mer-i-cans had stood on 
guard, and let the Brit-ish strike the first blow. But 
Gates made up his mind to push on and drive the 



A Traitor in the Camp. 



57 



Brit-ish, in charge of Lord Raw-don, out of Cam-den 
and make them fall back on Charles-ton. 

But Raw-don, as soon as he heard the A-mer-i-cans 




GEN-E-RAL GATES 



were near, sent word to Lord Corn-wal-lis at Charles- 
ton, who made haste to join him. 

On the night of Au-gust 15, the Brit-ish and 
A-mer-i-cans set out — one from the North and the 
oth-er from the South — but with no thought or plan 



58 The Battles of America. 

as to where they would meet and form in line of bat- 
tle. The two van-guards met near San-der's Creek, 
and began to fire in the dark. But both soon came 
to a halt, formed in line, ceased to fire, and lay in wait 
for the dawn. Then a fierce fight took place, and for 
awhile it was hard to tell which side would win. 

The Brit-ish charged with fixed bay-o-nets, and 
soon put the Vir-gin-ia and Car-o-li-na troops to flight. 
The Ma-ry-land and Del-a-ware troops still fought on, 
and seemed as if they would win the day at last, for 
more than once they forced the British to fall back. 

At length the whole force of the foe was brought to 
bear on these two corps, and a storm of bul-lets was 
poured in their ranks. At the same time Corn-wal-lis 
charged on them with fixed bay-o-nets, which made 
them give way, and as they broke Col-o-nel Tarle- 
ton's horse-men charged up-on them, and drove them 
from the field with great loss. 

Gen-er-al Gates, with his troops that were left, fell 
back to a safe place, and had no more to do with the 
war. He was not thought fit to lead troops to fight 
and win, and so the brave Gen-er-al Greene was put 
in charge of the A-mer-i-can force at the South. 

On the night be-fore the fight at San-der's Creek, 
Col-o-nel Sum-ter — from whom Fort Sum-ter takes 
its name — had been sent to rout the Brit-ish from 
their post on the Wa-ter-ee. He won the fight, and 



A Traitor in the Camp. 



59 



took two-score wag-ons, and one hun-dred pris-on- 
ers. While Sum-ter was on his way to join Gates, 
Col-o-nel Tarle-ton with his horse-men rode in-to the 
camp and found him quite off his guard. Sum-ter's 
men were worn out with hard work and loss of sleep, 
and had no strength to 
fight. Some were killed, 
some fled to to the woods 
and swamps to save them- 
selves, and Tarle-ton set 
the Eng-lish-men free and 
with great pride took them 
back to the Brit-ish camp. 

When the Brit-ish left 
Phil-a-del-phia, in 1778, 
Wash-ing-ton placed Gen- 
er-al Ben-e-dict Ar-nold 
there with some troops, as 
chief man of the town. 
Ar-nold had a bad wound 
and could not take part in 
the fights, and he might 
have done good work for the cause had such been his 
choice. But, though a brave man, he was not good 
or true, and Wash-ing-ton could not trust him. 

He lived in fine style, and made a great show ; and 
those who knew him best did not think it strange 




BEN-E-DICT R-NOLD. 



6o The Battles of A merica. 

when he took a wife from a-mong those who hoped for 
Brit-ish rule in A-mer-i-ca. These folks were known 
as To-ries. 

At last Ar-nold was charged with fraud, and forced 
to leave his high place, and he at once went to the 
camp at Mor-ris-town, where Wash-ing-ton then was, 
to be tried for his crimes. He used all his arts to help 
his own cause, but in vain. His guilt was clear. 

He was a proud man, and the shame he felt did 
not bow him to the dust, but roused in him a fierce 
hate for A-mer-i-ca and the cause once so dear to his 
heart. 

His first step was to let the Brit-ish know of this 
change in his views, and he wrote to Sir Hen-ry 
Clin-ton of his plans. For a fixed price he was to 
sell the A-mer-i-cans to the Brit-ish, and none but a 
Ju-das could have done so base a deed. 

Now there was a strong fort at West Point, which 
had been a great bar to the Brit-ish in their raids north- 
ward from New York. Ar-nold's pride would not 
let him join the Brit-ish ranks, so he made up his mind 
to go back to the A-mer-i-cans, get com-mand of 
West Point, and then give it up, with all its arms, 
troops, and stores, in-to the hands of the Brit-ish. 

He had kept a fair face to the A-mer-i-cans, though 
his heart was full of hate, and when he asked for the 
com-mand of West Point they gave it to him, for there 



A Traitoi' in the Camp. 



6i 



was great need of brave men. But Wash-ing-ton had 
doubts if he was the right man for the place, and kept 
a close watch on him for some time. 

There was a young man named John An-dre, who 
held the rank of Ma-jor in the Brit-ish ar-my, on the 




WASH-ING-TON AT WEST POINT. 



staff of Gen-er-al Clin-ton. He was well known to 
Ar-nold, and was a brave youth, with a fine mind. 
He was drawn into the plot, and notes, in a feigned 
hand, passed back and forth be-tween the two, which 
they did not sign with their own names. Ar-nold 



62 



The Battles of A^nerica. 




took the name of Gus-ta-vus, and Anydre that of An- 
derson. 

Ar-nold made his home at the house of a man 
named Rob-in-son, who, though born in A-mer-i-ca, 
had joined the ranks of the Brit-ish, and to him the 

plot was made known, as there 
would be need of his aid. 

As soon as . Ar-nold thouQ^ht 
Wash-ing-ton had left West Point 
for Hart-ford, where he had a call 
to go, he sent word to Clin-ton that 
he must see An-dre at once ; for 
in-to his hands, and none but his, 
would he give the maps and pa-pers 
that Clin-ton would need ere he 
could take the fort. It was thought that this blow 
would end the war, and An-dr6 was glad to take 
a part in it that he thought would bring him great fame. 
So on the night of Sep-tem-ber 19, 1780, he and 
Rob-in-son set forth on board the sloop-of-war Vul- 
hire, and the next morn-ing were at Fort Clin-ton, six 
miles south of West Point. They did not leave the 
boat un-til dark, and Ar-nold met them as they stepped 
on shore. 

All the plans were laid be-fore An-dr6, and Sep- 
tem-ber 25 was the day set on which Ar-nold would 
yield the forts in-to the hands of the Brit-ish. 



'-'s , V, 



MA-JOR AN-DRE. 



A Traitor in the Camp. 63 

An-dre set out at once for New York, to take the 
word to Clln-ton, but when he sought to go on 
board the V^d-tttre he found that she had had to 
drop some miles be-low to get out of reach of the 
guns that were fired on her from the shore. The 
men in the row boat would not go down to the 
Vul-ture, and An-dre went back to Ar-nold. He 
took off his u-ni-form, and put on a suit of plain 
clothes, which were brought to him by a man 
named Smith, a friend to the Brit-ish, and set out 
by land to New York. Smith went with him part of 
the way, and as each had a pass signed by Ar-nold, 
they passed through the A-mer-i-can lines with-out 
harm. An-dre then put spurs to his horse, and dashed 
on to New York with great speed. 

When near Tar-ry-town a man with a gun sprang 
from a clump of low trees by the road-side, seized the 
reins, and cried out, '' Where are you bound ? " At the 
same time two more men came up. An-dre thought 
they were Brit-ish, so did not show his pass, but 
asked them where they came from. "From be-low," 
said they. An-dr6 thought that this meant that they 
came from New York, and he said, " So do I. I am 
an Eng-lish of-fi-cer, and in great haste to get back to 
my post. So let me go on my way." 

" You belong to our foes ! " they cried. " You are 
now in our hands!" 



64 The Battles of America. 

They searched him, and found in his boots Ar- 
nold's maps and plans, which gave proof that they had 
caught a spy. Andr6 was struck dumb for a-while, 
and scarce knew what to do. Then he told the men 
they might have his horse, his purse, his watch, and 
that a large sum of gold would be sent to them from 
Eng-land, if they would let him go. But they would 
not; and he was borne by them to Col-o-nel Ja-mie- 
son, who was in charge of the out-posts. 

Ja-mie-son, who had no thought but that Ar-nold 
was a true man, wrote him at once that one An-der- 
son, who bore a pass signed by him, had been seized 
on the road to New York. 

Ar-nold was at break-fast when the news came to 
him, and it gave him a great shock. But there were 
still two days left ere Wash-ing-ton would be back, 
and he thought some-thing might be done in that time. 

While lost in thought, word was brought him that 
Wash-ing-ton was near, and would soon be with him. 
He at once made haste to his wife's room, and cried 
out " All is found out ! An-dre is a pris-on-er ! Wash- 
ing-ton will soon know all ! Burn all my pa-pers ! I fly 
to New York! " He then kissed her and their child, 
rushed from the room, seized the horse of one of the 
of-fi-cers, and fled to the Hud-son, where he had a 
barge with men at the oars. He threw him-self in-to 
it, and in a short time was on board the Vul-ture. 



A Traitor in the Cam-p. 



65 



An-dre was tried as a spy and hung, at Tap-pan, 
on Oc-to-ber 2. The fate of Ar-nold was worse 
than that of An-dre; for, though he saved his life, 
he lost all that makes life sweet and dear. He had 







THE CAP-TURE OF AN-DR^. 



no friends. Eng-lish and A-mer-i-cans shunned him 
as they would a snake. At the close of the war he 
went to Ene-land to live, and died there in the year 
1804, at the age of 63. 

Ar-nold was a bold, bad boy ; and yet, in spite of 
this, he mieht have been a orood man — for some-times 



66 The Battles of America. 

boys out-grow their faults, and make up by great and 
good deeds for all the bad deeds they have done. But 
his heart was bad all the way through, and he did not 
love the truth, or fear God as he should have done. 

You may not rise as high as a Wash-ing-ton or a 
Lin-coln, but it is your own fault if you sink so low as 
a Ben-e-dict Ar-nold, the great trait-or. 



CHAPTER VII. 

YORKTOWN: SEPT. AND OCT. 1781. 

The year 1781 brought no ray of hope to the 
A-mer-i-cans ; nor did the Brit-ish see their way 
clear to end the war. As you have been told, Gen- 
er-al Greene took the place of Gates, and had charge 
of the troops at the South. His whole force was but 
2000 men, but in spite of this he sent Gen-er-al Mor- 
gan to the west of South Car-o-lina to put a stop to 
the wild deeds done there by the Brit-ish and their 
friends. 

Corn-wal-lis sent Tarle-ton to push Mor-gan, and 
they met Jan-u-ary 17, 1781, at a place called the Cow- 
pens. The first fierce on-set of the foe made the 



Battle of Torktoivn. 67 

A-mer-i-cans yield ; but Mor-gan soon brought them 
up, and in one grand charge on the Brit-ish lines they 
put the red-coats to flight. 

As soon as this came to the ears of Lord Corn- 
wal-lis he made up his mind to take the field him-self, 
and was quite sure that he would win back all that 
had been lost, and bring to terms all the land that lay 
south of Vir-gin-ia. So he set out on a quick march 
to stop Mor-gan on his way back to Greene, and on 
Jan-u-ary 19 crossed the Ca-taw-ba Riv-er. 

But Mor-gan was as shrewd as he was brave, and 
pushed on his troops at such a pace that they made 
out to reach Gow-an's Ford and cross the Ca-taw-ba 
two hours before the van-guard of the foe came in 
sight. It was quite dark when Corn-wal-lis reached 
the bank of the stream, where he made a halt till day- 
light. By this time a rain had set in that swelled the 
stream so that they would need boats to cross it, and 
these the A-mer-i-cans had tied up on the other shore. 

As soon as the wa-ters went down Corn-wal-lis be- 
gan to ford the stream, and some of the A-mer-i-cans 
on guard at the ford were slain. Greene fled, and had 
just time to cross the Yad-kin when Corn-wal-lis came 
up ; but as night had set in Corn-wal-lis thought he 
would give up the chase till the next day. Ere dawn 
the rain came down like a flood and the Yad-kin was 
full to the brim, so that the Brit-ish could not ford it. 



68 The Battles of A me7'ica. 

The same thing took place when they came to the 
Dan Riv-er, and the A-mer-i-cans through-out the 
land could not but feel that God was with them, and 
kept them from the foe. And Corn-wal-lis gave up 
the chase. 

As soon as Greene's troops had had a chance to 
rest, he led them back in-to North Car-o-li-na, crossed 
the Dan, and pushed on to Guil-ford Court-House, 
with-in ten miles of the Brit-ish camp. He reached 
there March 15, and drew his army up in three lines 
to wait the at-tack of Corn-wal-lis, who the same day 
came out to meet him. 

Both sides fought with great skill for an hour and a 
half, when Greene gave the sign to his men to fall back, 
and both sides claim to have won the fight. Yet 
strange to say Corn-wal-lis turned back to Wil-ming- 
ton, while Greene kept on his march to the south, in 
hopes to drive the Brit-ish in com-mand of Lord Raw- 
don out of South Car-o-li-na. On his march, most of 
those who made up the bulk of Greene's corps left 
and went to their homes, and when he came near where 
the Brit-ish were, his force, though small, was for the 
most part made up of those who were pledged to fight 
as long as the war should last. 

Greene wished to send word to Sum-ter, then on 
the San-tee, to get in front of the red-coats and check 
their flight. But there was no man in the whole ranks 



^o The Battles of America. 

brave enough to do this deed. It was a great risk. 
But a brave young girl, whose name was Em-i-ly Gei- 
ger, said that she would take the note to Sum-ter. 
Greene told her what was in it, so that in case there 
was need she might tear it up and tell Sum-ter what 
Greene wished him to know. 

The girl got on a fleet horse, crossed the Wa-ter-ee 
at Cam-den, and while on her way through a dry 
swamp was brought to a stand-still by some Brit-ish 
scouts. They took her to a house at the edge of a 
swamp, and she was searched by a wo-man whom they 
hired. When left a-lone she ate up Greene's note 
piece by piece, and as naught was found on her to 
prove she was a spy or that she had come from Gen- 
er-al Greene, they let her go, and felt much shame at 
what they had done. 

The girl went on to Sum-ter's camp, and soon he 
was on his way to help Greene, and check the red- 
coats. 

Fights took place through the spring months in 
South Car-o-li-na and Geor-gia, in which there was 
great loss on both sides, and af-ter that of Eu-taw 
Springs the Brit-ish drew off^ their troops to Charles- 
ton and Sa-van-nah. 

Late in A-pril Corn-wal-lis left Wil-ming-ton and 
marched north-ward to join his force with those at 
Pe-ters-burg. He tried to bring on a battle with La- 



Battle of 7'orhtoivn. 



71 



fay-ette, who was then in com-mand of 3000 troops to 
guard the state of Vir-gin-ia; and as he failed in this 
he went to work with fire and sword to lay waste the 
land. He tried in the mean-time to seize the A-mer- 
i-can stores at Al-be-marle Court-House, but was 
foiled by the Mar- 
quis, who brought his 
troops be-tween his 
stores and the Brit-ish 
lines. For the skill 
he showed while in 
charge of the troops in 
Vir-gin-ia, the King of 
France made La-fay- 
ette Field Mar-shal of 
France, at the close of 
the war in A-mer-i-ca, 
which rank he held 
un-til his death in the 
year 1834. 

Corn-wal-lis soon 
went to Rich-mond, 
and from there to Ports-mouth, where La-fay-ette set 
out to meet him with a force of 4000 men. Wayne 
led the van-guard, and as he thought the Brit-ish had 
crossed the James Riv-er, he made a bold push for 
their rear. But lo ! there they all were, and what was 




CORN-WAL-LIS. 



72 The Battles of America. 

to be done must be done at once. So Wayne had his 
men fire, and then turn and run, and by this trick saved 
their lives. Corn-wal-lis did not think it worth while 
to give chase, and on Au-gust i crossed the James 
Riv-er and went to Ports-mouth. Not pleased with 
the place, he soon moved on to York-town, on the 
south side of the York Riv-er, and at once be-gan to 
build forts and to make it a strong-hold. 

In July, 1 78 1, Wash-ing-ton made his plans to move 
on New York and drive the Brit-ish from that town, 
and went in camp near Dobb's Fer-ry, where he staid 
for six weeks. He had sent out a call for troops, which 
were slow to come, and when Wash-ing-ton was told 
of the strength of the foe, and that a fresh lot of troops 
had been sent from Eng-land, he made up his mind 
to wait till the French fleet, in charge of Count de 
Grasse, came up from the West In-dies. 

At length, in Au-gust, word came from Count de 
Grasse that he was a-bout to sail with his whole fleet 
and 3200 land troops for Ches-a-peake Bay. Wash- 
ing-ton at once set out for Vir-gin-ia with as large a 
force as could be spared from the posts on the Hud- 
son, and reached La-fay-ette at Wil-liams-burg on 
Sep-tem-ber 14. 

In the mean-while the Count de Grasse with all his 
ships of war came in-to Ches-a-peake Bay, and on the 
way had a short fight with the Brit-ish Ad-mi-ral, 



Battle of Torhtovjii. 



73 



Graves, off the capes. More troops came by land to 
join the A-mer-i-cans, and all took up their line ot 
march for York-town. On the last day of Sep-tem- 
ber they were all round the place, and the Brit-ish were 
hemmed in. 







THE SUR-REN-DER OF CORN-WAL-LIS AT YORK-TOWN. 

The A-mer-i-cans and French-men went to work 
the same night to build earth-works, and so still were 
they that the Brit-ish did not know they were near till 
the next day at dawn, and it gave them a shock to see 
the strong-holds they had built. 

On Oc-to-ber 9 and 10, the A-mer-i-cans and 
French fired their oruns, and with shells and hot shot 



74 The Battles of America. 

raked the Eng-lish ships in the bay and did them 
much harm. 

So fierce was the fire of the great field-guns that by 
Oc-to-ber i6 the walls- of the Brit-ish earth-works 
were laid low and the guns thrown out of place. 
Wash-ing-ton said, ''The work is done, and well 
done." Corn-wal-lis tried to get a-way by boats, but 
a fierce storm came up, the boats were swept from their 
course, and there was naught to do but to give up his 
sword. This was done, and on Oc-to-ber 19, the 
terms were signed, and the troops marched out and 
laid down their arms. 

Not a cheer went up from A-mer-i-cans or French- 
men, for Wash-ing-ton had told them to check all 
sounds and signs of joy, and not add to the grief of the 
foe they had crushed. 

The sur-ren-der of Corn-wal-lis sent a thrill of joy 
through the whole land. Bon-fires were lit; guns 
were fired, can-non roared, and all with heart and 
voice gave thanks to God that peace had come at last, 
and that A-mer-i-ca was free. 

A horse-man was sent with all speed to bear the 
glad news to Phil-a-del-phia, where Con-gress then 
met. It was mid-night, Oc-to-ber 23, when he 
reached the town, and when the watch-men told the 
hour they cried out, " All's well ! Corn-wal-lis is 
ta-ken ! " 



The IV ar of 1^12. 75 

Men sprang from their beds, and rushed in-to the 
streets half dressed. The old State-house bell that 
had tolled for the first time on the Fourth of Ju-ly, 
1776, now rang out in glad tones. 

France shared in the joy, and A-mer-i-ca had 
proved her right to be the land of the free and the 
home of the brave. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE WAR OF 181 2. 

The war of 1812 is known as the sec-ond war for 
free-dom, and was brought a-bout in this way; 
For some time the Eng-lish had done much harm 
to A-mer-i-cans on the high seas. They had seized 
and burned their ships, and forced their sea-men to 
serve the King, and this was too much for the A-mer-i- 
cans to put up with. 

The first fight took place at Fort Mack-i-naw, which 
was on a strait — or strip of land — be-tween Lakes 
Hu-ron and Mich-i-gan. This strait was two-score 
miles in length, and in the midst of it was a high rock, 
on which the French had built a strong-hold which 
fell into the hands of the Brit-ish in 1760. 



76 



The Battles of America. 



The A-mer-i-cans gave the lort the name of Fort 
Hohiies, and this was in charge of a small force of 
troops in the year 1812. As soon as it was made known 
that A-mer-i-ca and Eng-land were once more at war, 




THE IM-PRESS-MENT OF A-MER-1-CAN SEA-MEN IN BOS-TOI^". 



the Brit-ish troops in Can-a-da seized the fort at Mack- 
i-naw, and with the aid of the red men drove out the 
troops, and not a gun was fired. 

As this was the key to the vast fur trade in the 
North-west, the A-mer-i-cans sought to win it back in 



The War of 1812. 



77 



the year 1814, but their force was too small, and they 
had to give it up. 

By sea and land the Brit-ish and A-mer-i-cans 
fought, and brave deeds were done on both sides. 

On Feb-ru-ary 24, 18 13, Cap-tain Law-rence was 
in com-mand of the 
sloop-of-war Hor-net, 
which fell in with the 
Brit-ish brio^ Pea-cock 
off the coast of Bra- 
zil. Here a fight took 
place, and ere long the 
main-mast of the Pea 
cock fell, and she sank 
orut of sight and took 
down with her nine 
Brit-ish and three 
A-mer-i-can sea-men. 

While Law - rence 
was on his way home 
with the Hot -net and 
the pris-on-ers from the Pea-cock, the Ches-a-peake, 
Cap-tain Ev-ans, was out on a long cruise on the 
coast of South A-mer-i-ca. As she came in-to Bos- 
ton Bay a gale set in, her main-mast was blown away, 
and three of her men were drowned. The rest of the 
sea-men said that was a sim of bad luck, and thev 




CAP-TAIN BROKE. 



78 



The Battles of America. 



were loath to sail in her. Cap-tain Ev-ans was 
forced to leave her, as he had lost the sight of one of 
his eyes, and Law-rence, who had been raised in 
rank, was put in com-mand of her. 




THE "CHES-A-PEAKE" AND THE " SHAN-NON." 



At the close of May the Brit-ish ship-of-war Shan- 
non, Cap-tain Broke, with 52 guns, came up near Bos- 
ton and stood off for a fight. Broke wrote to Law- 
rence to meet the Shan-non, ship to ship. He said if 
the Ches-a-peake left Bos-ton it would be sure to be 



The War of \'6\2. 79 

crushed by the Brit-ish force on the high seas, and it 
was as well for them to fight where there were no ships 
near to help or harm, and so test the for-tunes of the 
flags they bore. 

Law-rence gave heed to this, and with Lieu-ten-ant 
Lud-low next in com-mand sailed out of Bos-ton Bay 
to meet the S/ia7t-7wn, at noon of June i, 1813. Near 
sun-set they were in the midst of the fight. When 
they had fought for twelve min-utes the Ches-a-peake 
saw a chance to take the wind out of the sails of her 
foe, to cross her bow, and rake her fore and aft ; but 
just then a storm of shot and shell broke her spars and 
tore her sails so that the ship could not be moved. 
To add to this her top-sails caught in the fore-chains 
of the Shan-7ion, and held thus the decks of the Ches-a- 
peake were swept by the balls of her foe. 

One of them struck the brave young com-man-der, 
and gave him his death-blow. As he was borne from 
the deck he said, " Tell the men to fire faster, and not 
to give up the ship ; fight her till she sinks." The 
A-mer-i-cans made this their war-cry, and " Don't 
give up the ship ! " nerved sea-men to be as brave as 
he who gave up his life for the cause, and whose death 
was such a great loss. 

Broke's troops now swarmed the deck of the Ches-a- 
peake, and soon Lud-low met with his death-blow 
from a sword-thrust, and the Shan-noii won the day. 



8o The Battles of A merica. 

Broke sailed at once for Hal-i-fax with his prize in 
tow, and the day be-fore he reached there (June 7) 
Law-rence breathed his last, wrapped in the flag of 
the Ches-a-peake. 

Eng-land rang with shouts of joy, and the vic- 
tor. Cap-tain Broke won much praise, rich gifts, and 
high rank for the proud place he had won for the 
Brit-ish flaor. 

The A-mer-i-can war-ship Con-sti-ht-tioii, 4.4. guns, 
had been on a long cruise to the coast of Spain, and 
was on her way back when the war of 18 12 broke out. 
She set sail from An-nap-o-lis Ju-ly 12, for a cruise to 
the north, and at the end of three days fell in with the 
fleet in com-mand of Cap-tain Broke. 

As she would stand no chance at all in a fio^ht with 
such a force as she would have to meet, her cap-tain, 
Charles Stew-art, set to work to save her bv flio^ht. 
The sea was a dead calm, and there was scarce a 
breath of wind to stir the sails. Her boats were 
launched with strong sea-men to ply the oars. Guns 
were run fore and aft on the deck, and all the light 
sails that would draw were set. 

Soon a breeze sprang up, and the Coii-sti-ht-tion 
was well on her way when a shot at long range was 
fired from, the Shan-non, but did no harm. When 
the wind died out the sea-men would pull at their 
oars, and when the breeze sprang up the sails did 



The War of 1812. 8r 

their work, and thus they moved on, but at a slow 
rate of speed. 

The Sha7i-non made use of the same means and 
soon gained on the Con-sti-ht-tioit, and the Gtier-ri~ere 
[geei^ -re-air), 38 guns, joined in the chase, which was 
kept up all day and all night. At dawn of the next 
day the whole Brit-ish fleet were in sight, and bent on 
catch-ing the A-mer-i-can ship that showed such pluck. 
It was five a-gainst one, but the skilled sea-men kept 
such a space be-tween the Co7'i-sti-hc-tto7^ and her foes 
that not a gun was fired. 

At sun-set of Ju-ly 19 a squall struck the Con-sti- 
ht-tion, and wind, light-ning, and rain raged on the sea 
for a short time. But she rode out the storm, and at 
sun-set was borne by a stiff breeze at the rate of 14 
miles an hour, which soon took them out of reach 
of the foe. 

At mid-night the Brit-ish fired two guns, and the 
next morn-ing gave up the chase, which had been 
kept up for more than two days. 

Com-mo-dore Ol-i-ver Haz-ard Per-ry in 1812 had 
charge of the gun-boats near New York, and in 18 13 
was placed in com-mand of the fleet on Lake E-rie. 
He had to wait some time for troops, and had to go in- 
to the fight with less men than he had need of. On 
the e-ven-ing of Sep-tem-ber 9 he called his chief men 
round him and had a long talk with them. Ere they 



82 The Battles of America. 

left he showed them a square blue flag on which, in 
large white let-ters, were the words, 

DON'T GIVE UP 
THE SHIP. 

When he should hoist this flag to the main-yard of 
his ship, the Law-rence, it was a sign that the fight 
was to take place at once. 

The next day, Sep-tem-ber lo, the sun shone bright, 
and the man on the watch in the main-top of the Law- 
rence cried out, " Sail ho ! " which meant that the Brit- 
ish fleet had hove in sight. In a short time Per-ry's 
nine ships were in range for the fight, and at the mast- 
head of the Law-rence was the blue flag that bore the 
words, '' Don t give up the ship!' 

The two fleets — like birds with wings out-spread — 
drew near each oth-er. The Brit-ish was in com-mand 
of Rob-ert Bar-clay, who had fought with Lord Nel- 
son in the East. His ships were named De-troit, 
Qtieeii Char-lotte, Lady Pre-vost, Httn-ter, Lit-tle Belt, 
and Chip-pe-wa. The names of Per-ry's ships were 
Law-rence, Ni-ag-a-ra, Cal-e-do-ni-a, A-ri-el, Scor- 
pi-on, Trippe, Ti-gress, and Por-cu-pine. 

The fight be-gan at noon, at long range, and the 
Scor-pi-on fired the first shot on the A-mer-i-can side. 
Fierce and more fierce grew the fight as the ships 



The War of 1812. 



83 



drev" near each oth-er, and at times the smoke was so 
dense as to hide the scene from view. 

For two long hours the Law-rence took part in the 




OL-I-VER HAZ-ARD PER-RY. 



frayc Her ropes hung loose, her sails were torn to 
^nreds, her spars were bits of wood, and she was a 
wreck in-deed. The deck was strewn with blood. 
But one mast was in place, and from that streamed the 



§4 The Battles of America, 

A-mer-i-can flag, which the brave Per-ry would not 
haul down in spite of his hard luck. All his ships 
but one had fought hard and done well, and that one 
was the sloop Ni-ag-a-7^a, which kept out of harm's 
way. 

She was a stanch ship, and Per-ry made up his 
mind to fly to her as she drew near the Law-rence, 
and to go on with the fight. He put on his u-ni-form, 
and took down the lone Aas: that flew from the mast- 
head, and the square blue flag that bore the words 
" Don't give up the ship." Then he stepped in-to the 
small boat, with his broth-er, who was then but four- 
teen years of age, and with four stout men at the oars 
set out on his rash trip. 

Those he had left on board the Ni-ag-a-ra watched 
him with fear in their hearts, as he stood up in the 
boat with the two flags wrapped round him. 

The Brit-ish fleet brought all their guns to bear on 
the small boat, and a storm of shot and shell drenched 
the sea-men with spray and broke their oars, but not 
a man was hurt. 

In a quar-ter of an hour Perry was safe on board 
the Ni-ag-a-ra, the flags he bore were hauled up to 
the mast-head and main-yard, and he dashed at once 
in-to the Brit-ish lines. In eio^ht min-utes the flag- 
ship of the foe struck its col-ors, the fight was at an 
end, and the A-mer-i-cans had won th^ dav. Per-ry 



Battle of Lundy^s Lane. 85 

sat down, put his cap on his knee, and wrote to Gen- 
er-al Har-ri-son, who had charge of the troops at 
Camp Sen-e-ca, a score of miles from Lake E-rie, in 
in these words, " We have met the en-e-my and they 
are ours — two ships, two brigs, one schoon-er, and 
one sloop. 

The name of Per-ry stood high on the roll of fame, 
and A-mer-i-ca gave praise and thanks to her brave 
young he-ro. 



CHAPTER IX. 

LUNDY'S LANE: JULY 25, 1814. 

At the close of the fight at Chip-pe-wa, July 5, 18 14, 
the Brit-ish gen-er-al, Ri-all, fled down the edge of 
the Ni-ag-a-ra Riv-er to Queens-ton, put some of his 
troops at Fort George, and made his own stay near 
the lake, a score of miles to the w^est. 

It was a great blow to the pride of Sir George 
Drum-mond, chief in com-mand of the Brit-ish troops, 
that his brave and well-drilled men should be put to 
flight by a lot of raw A-mer-i-cans. He made up his 
mind to wipe out the stain, and to drive the blue-coats 



86 



The Battles of America, 



out of Can-a-da. The A-mer-i-can troops were in 
com-mand of Gen-er-al Ja-cob Brown, who, as soon 
as he had cared for the dead and those who had met 




WIN-FIELD SCOTT. 



with wounds at Chip-pe-wa, gave chase to the Brit-ish, 
and laid plans to at-tack Fort George. 

On July 24 word came to Brown that Drum-mond 
with 1000 troops, most of whom had fought with 
Lord Wel-ling-ton, had landed at Lew-is-ton. Their 



S8 



The Battles of A ^nerica. 



plan was, no doubt, to seize the A-mer-i-can stores — 
the guns, baHs, and pow-der for use in war times — 
at Schlos-ser, a-bove the Falls. 

Brown at once bade Gen-er-al Scott march a part 
of his force with all speed, and make a show as if he 




THE FALLS OF NI-AG-A-RA. 



meant to at-tack the forts at the mouth of the riv-er. 
At dusk of Ju-ly 24, 18 14, as Scott and his troops 
drew near the edge of the Great Falls, he saw some 
Brit-ish of-fi-cers leave the house, mount their steeds, 
and ride off in haste. 



Battle of Lujidy's Lane. 89 

He thought by this that the van-guard of the Brit-ish 
force was near, and made a dash in-to the woods to 
drive them out, when he was met by Ri-all, with more 
troops than he had had at Chip-pe-wa. 

The A-mer-i-cans were in a great strait. They 
could not stand still ; and if they fell back the whole 
A-mer-i-can force might be put to rout. So Scott 
made up his mind to stand and fight the foe — three 
times his strength. 

At sun-set a fierce fight be-gan and did not stop un- 
til near mid-night. Ri-all's force, 18,000 strong, was 
on a rise of ground o-ver which went a road known as 
Lundy's Lane, the high-way to the west from the Ni- 
ag-a-ra Riv-er. On that height the Brit-ish had their 
large guns placed. 

Scott found out that there was a blank space be- 
tween the Brit-ish and the bank of the stream, and he 
bade Ma-jor Jes-sup and the troops in his charge 
crawl through the brush-wood that grew in the space 
and turn the left flank. 

This was done in the still, dark hours of the night, 
and Jes-sup and his men gained the rear of the Brit- 
ish, and kept back the troops sent up by Drum-mond. 
At the same time Scott fought Ri-all, and soon Brown 
came up with the main force to join in the fight. 

Brown saw that there was no chance for the A-mer- 
i-cans so long as the Brit-ish had the earth-works on 



90 The Battles of America. 

the hill. So he said to Col-o-nel Mil-ler, "Can you 
storm that work and take it ? " 

"I'll try," said Mil-ler; and he led his 300 men up 
the hill in the dark. 

"Theirs but to do, or die." They kept close to a 
fence, where a thick hedge hid them from the view of 
the gun-ners and those who were on guard near them. 
When near the earth-works, Mil-ler and his men 
could see the gun-ners, with the fuse in a glow with 
which they were to touch off the guns at the word Fire. 

Mil-ler chose his best marks-men, and told them to 
rest their guns on the fence, fix their eye on a Brit-ish 
gun-ner, and fire at the sign he would give. 

Soon all the gun-ners fell dead at their posts, and 
Mil-ler and his men rushed in and seized the earth- 
works, and had a fierce hand-to-hand fight in the dark 
with the men who were to guard the guns and the 
gun-ners. The Brit-ish fell back, and though they 
tried they could not get back the earth-works nor the 
five large brass guns that were in it. 

In the mean-time Scott fought hard and well, un-til 
he met with a wound in his arm. Gen-er-al Brown 
was hurt so that he had to be borne from the field, 
and Gen-er-al Rip-ley took his place. The A-mer- 
i-cans fell back to Chip-pe-wa, where Brown told 
them to take a brief rest and then come back, ere it 
was dawn, to take the field the Brit-ish had left. 



Battle of Ltmdy'^s Lane. 



91 



But Rip-ley was slow to act, and the Brit-ish came 
up and took back the earth-work and four of the guns, 
and the field was theirs. Both sides claimed to have 
won the fight. The Brit-ish had 4500 troops, and 




AN-DREW JACK-SON. 



lost at least 878. The A-mer-i-cans had 2600, and 
lost 852. Mil-ler won much fame by his brave deed 
at Lun-dy's Lane, which was thought to out-shine all 
the bright deeds done through-out the war. 



92 



The Battles of America. 



The war of 1812 was kept up for three years, and 
in that time 68 bat-ties were fought, North and South, 
by land and sea. A great fight took place at New 



T^i^f^" '«i'3ii^sasi^rsi=.'i.J "^J-H.- 














NEW OR-LEANS. 



Or-leans, in which Gen-er-al An-drew Jack-son won 
great fame for him-self and for the A-mer-i-can cause. 

He rose to high rank and 
w^as known by the name of 
!Z°™hI -Old Hick-o-ry." 

i his brouo^ht the war to 
a close, and there was a long 
reign of peace in the land. 

PLAN OF BAT-TLE OF NEW OR-LEANS. McU hid doWn thc SWOrd 




In Mexico. ■ 93 

and took up the plough-share, and the fields grew 
rich in corn and grain. Towns sprang up here and 
there on the plains where the red men used to dwell, 
and the Stars and Stripes waved at high-mast, and 
was all the more dear be-cause of the blood it cost 
to make it "the flag of the free." 



CHAPTER X. 

IN MEXICO. 

A-mer-i-ca was a small child in 1815, but she 
soon be-gan to spread her-self and to add new States 
from time to time to the first 13, and to put more 
stars in her flag. The red men were not on good 
terms with the white men, for they drove them from 
the land to which they felt they had the first right. In 
1832 the Sacs, Fox-es, and Sioux {sooz) set out to kill 
all the white folks who lived in the north-west. They 
were led by their chief. Black Hawk, and the war, 
which was soon brought to an end, is known as The 
Black Hawk War. 

The red men in Flor-i-da were known as Sem-i- 
noles, and were good friends with the folks from Spain 
who laid claim to that part of A-mer-i-ca. They 



94 



The Battles of A merica. 



made raids on the States that were near, and did so 
much harm and shed so much blood that the U-ni-ted 
States made up its mind to drive the whole band to 

the wild lands west 
of the Mis-sis-sip- 

T. his brought on 
what is known as 
the Sem-i-nole 
War, which be-gan 
in 1835 and was 
kept up for sev-en 
long years. 

Tex-as was a 
part of Mex-i-co 
and und-er the flag 
of Spain, un-til the 
year 1845, when she 
be-came one of the 
U-ni-ted States. 
This brought on a 
war with Mex-i-co, 
and the first fight 
took place at Fort 
Brown on the third of May, 1846. Gen-er-al Zach- 
a-ry Tay-lor was chief in com-mand of the A-mer- 
i-can troops, and San-ta An-na of the Mex-i-cans. 




A SIOUX CHIEF. 



In Mexico. 



95 



Tay-lor crossed the Ri-o Grande, drove the Mex- 
i-can troops from the town of Mat-a-mo-ras (May i8), 




OS-CE-O-LA. 



and staid there till some time in Au-gust, when fresh 
troops were sent him. Gen-er-als Wool, Worth, 
and Scott were in league with Tay-lor, and did much 



c)6 The BaMes of America. 

to aid him, but their whole force was not half so great 
as the Mex-i-cans. 

Gen-er-al Tay-lor was rough in speech, and did not 
think much of style. He rode side-ways on his horse 
more than half the time, and wore a slouch hat and an 




SCENE ON THE COAST OF FLOR-I-DA. 



old suit of clothes, and did not look at all like a great 
man. But he was much liked, and won for him-self 
great fame and the name of" Old Rough and Ready." 
If you will look at the list of Pres-i-dents of the U-ni- 
ted States you will find that he was the twelfth in line. 
Gen-er-al Grant took part in the war with Mex-ico, 



In Mexico. 



97 



but he was then a young lieu-ten-ant. What he learned 
then was of great use to him, and well he proved the 
truth of the old say-ing that "a still tongue shows a 
wise head." 




IN-DIAN WEAP-ONS. 



A fierce fight took place Feb-ru-a-ry 23, 1847, at 
Bue-na Vis-ta, which was won by the A-mer-i-cans. 

Grant saw a church close at hand, with a small bel- 
fry on top — a room In which a bell is hung. So he 
told the few men with him to take the field-gun a-part 
and bear it to the door of the church. Here they were 



98 



The Battles of America. 



met by a priest, who said they could not pass. But 
Grant told him that he might as well stand by, for they 
meant to come in, and the gun was set up in the tower, 
and sent its balls right in-to the Mex-i-can ranks. 

It is as well to 
state that the Mex- 
i-cans had poor 
guns, and the 
A-mer-i-cans had 
no great fear of* 
them. Their fields, 
too, were rank with 
a tall stiff grass, and 
when their balls 
went through it it 
would bend and 
sway like a wave 
of the sea. The 
A-mer-i-cans could 
tell by this just how 
to dodge the balls, 
and thus saved their 
lives, and made the 




IN-DIAN OR-NA-MENTS. 



poor Mex-i-cans feel that their foes bore a charm to 
save them from death, and to help them win their 



way. 



In March the whole north of Mex-i-co was in the 



In Mexico. 



99 



hands of the A-mer-i-cans, and Gen-e-ral Win-field 
Scott was on his way, with 13,000 men, to Mex-i-co, 
its chief town. 

They came down the Mis-sis-sip-pi on boats, and 
went on shore near Ve-ra Cruz. 




CIT-Y OF MEX-I-CO. 



Scott laid siege to this town on the 13th, and on the 
27th it was in his hands, and the flag of Spain gave 
way to the Stars and Stripes. In the mean-time San- 
ta An-na came up with 12,000 men to meet the foe, 
and took post at Cer-ro Gor-do, a rough pass at the 



TOO 



The Battles of Aiuei'ica. 



foot of the great hills known as the Cor-dil-ler-as. 
Here was a fort which was thoug^ht to be as strone as 
that of Ve-ra Cruz ; but the troops in it soon laid down 
their arms, and the fort and all it held passed in-to the 

hands of the A-mer-i- 
cans. 

On they went, these 
he-roes bold, and on 
May 15 came to Pu- 
eb-la, a large town, 
where they staid till 
the month of Au-gust 
to rest and gain 
strength, and to wait 
for fresh troops. Scott 
then pushed on, and 
was soon near the 
strong-hold on the out- 
skirts of the chief town, 
where King Mon-te- 
zu-ma once held sway 
and dwelt in grand 
state, and there was no lack of eold. 

The camp at Con-tre-ras gave way to the A-mer-i- 
cans Au-gust 20, and the strong fort-ress of San An- 
to-ni-o struck her flag the same day. Scott's next 
move was to the heights of Chur-u-bus-co, and when 




ZACH-A-RY TAY-LOR. 



In Mexico. 



loi 



this fell San-ta An-na fled in great haste to the chief 
town. The next day he sent out men to treat for 
peace with Gen-er-al Scott, who drew up the terms — 
which San-ta An-na signed. But this was a mere 
ruse, or trick, on San-ta An-na's part to gain time to 
add to the strength of the town ; and when Scott found 
this out he set out on 
the war-path with fire 
in his eye. Less than 
4000 A-mer-i-cans 
fought with 14,000 
Mex-i-cans at Mo-li- 
no del Rey (the King's 
Mill) on Sep-tem-ber 
8, and won the day, 
but with a loss of 800 
men. The Mex-i- 
cans lost 1000 men. 

This mill was long 
and low, as were all 
the houses in Mex-i- 
co, and there were rows of sand-bags on the roof, 
which made it quite a strong fort. Grant saw a 
chance to get up on the roof An old cart stood near 
the mill ; he brought it up, set it close by the wall with 
the thills up, and "chocked" the wheels so they would 
not roll back. Up this queer lad-der he and his men 




I02 The Battles of America. 

climbed to the top of the mill, drove out the Mex-i-cans, 
and held the fort. 

The hill of Cha-pul-te-pec was doomed. On its 
top was a grand fort, built in fine style. This the 
A-mer-i-cans stormed with shot and shell Sep-tem- 
ber 12, and the next day the Stars and Stripes waved 
o'er its bro-ken walls. 

That night San-ta An-na and his troops fled from 
the town, and the next day, at dawn, the folks there 
sent to Scott to beg him to spare the town and treat 
for peace. But he would make no terms; and on 
Sep-tem-ber 13, 1847, he marched in-to the town in 
great style. 

San-ta An-na tried to get back what he had lost, 
but met with poor luck, and at the end of Oc-to-ber 
fled for his life to the shores of the Gulf, with the loss 
of one leg, which was shot off at the bat-tie of Bu-e-na 
Vis-ta. 



CHAPTER XL 

WARS WITH THE INDIANS. 

In all New Encr-land there was no tribe of red 
men quite so fierce and war-like as the Pe-quots. 
Their chief was named Sas-sa-cus. He was bold, 




MAS-SA-CKE OF SET-TLERS. 



I04 



The Battles of A inerica. 



crii-el, proud and fierce, and did his best to get the 
Nar-ra-gan-setts and Mo-he-gans to join him in a 
scheme to slay all the whites. But these two tribes 
were good friends of the white men, and had no wish 
to make war on them. So Sas-sa-cus made up his 
mind to do the task a-lone — that is, with his own 
tribe; and so great was his thirst for blood, that he 

slew all who came in his 
way. 

The chief fort of the Pe- 
quots was on a hill near the 
Mys-tic Riv-er in the town 
of Sto-ning-ton. It was 
not safe for a white man to 
pass up or down the stream 
with-out a guard. 

The Eng-lish had a fort 
at Say-brook, which was 
some-what in a state of 
siege, as the troops did not 
dare to stir out for fear the Pe-quots would seize or 
slay them. In Au-gust, 1636, Cap-tain En-di-cott, of 
Sa-lem, was sent with 80 or 90 men to treat with 
them, and to make terms of peace with the Pe-quots, 
or to fight them for the wrongs they had done the 
white men. But the Pe-quots, as soon as they found 
out what the men had come for, ran off in-to the 




JOHN EN-DI-COTT. 



io6 The Battles of America. 

woods and swamps, where it was no use to search 
for them. 

In the spring of 1637, the Eng-lish made up their 
minds to make war on the Pe-quots. They were 
joined by the Mo-he-gans, with Un-cas at their head,, 
and the whole force was in charge of Cap-tain John 
Ma-son. Some Nar-ra-gan-setts and Ni-an-tics lent 
them their aid, and while Sas-sa-cus dreamed of flight, 
his foes — 500 strong — were on the march to attack 
his strong-hold. 

Soon they came to the foot of the hill on which the 
fort of Sas-sa-cus stood — with its three score and ten 
wig-wams shut in-side a strong log fence. Shouts 
and cries and wild war-songs were heard with-in the 
fort. At mid-night all was still. 

Two hours be-fore the dawn of May 26, 1637, the 
troops set out for the fort. The red men, who had 
been in the van, now fell to the rear, and some of them 
were loath to fight Sas-sa-cus, for they looked on him 
as all but a god. But Un-cas was firm, and but for 
him -^he Nar-ra-gan-setts would have left the Eng- 
lish in the lurch. 

As Ma-son drew near the door of the fort, he heard 
a dog bark, and one of the guards cry out, 0-wan-ttx! 
0-wa7t-tLx ! which is Eng-lish-meii ! Eng-lish-men I 
At once Ma-son fired on them through the logs, for 
the Pe-quots were in a dead sleep. Then the Eng- 



Wars with the Indians. 107 

lish-men wheeled off, and fell on the main door, which 
was blocked up breast-high with brush-wood. 

The Pe-quots rushed out, but the swords and balls 
drove them back to the fort, and they crept in-to their 
wie-wams. Then one of the white men took a torch 
and set fire to the straw that made the thatched roof 
of the wig-wams, and soon they were all in a light 
blaze. 

The Pe-quots were wild with fear, and ran this way 
and that. Some of them climbed to the top of the 
high fence in their haste to get out, and some of them 
— at their wits' end — ran straight in-to the flames. 
But soon the smoke grew so dense that no one could 
breathe it and live, and in less than an hour there was 
naught left of the fort, and at least 600 Pe-quots were 
slain. 

Sas-sa-cus was not there, but at a fort on the 
Thames, where Gro-ton now is. He sat still and 
grave when told what had been done on the Mys-tic, 
and his braves vowed to take his life if he did not lead 
them out a-gainst the pale face foes. Just then the 
blast of a trum-pet was heard. The white men were 
near, full 200 strong ! The red men fled with their 
wo-men and chil-dren a-cross the Thames, through 
the dense woods and o-ver green fields to the west- 
ward, w^ith the white men in full chase. 

The Pe-quots hid in Sas-co Swamp, near Fair-field, 



loS 



The Battles of America. 



where, in a short time, all but Sas-sa-cus and a few 
who got off with him laid down their arms and swore 




IN-DI-AN LIFE IN THEIR LOD-GES. 



to live in peace with the Eng-lish. And this blow to 
the Pe-quots gave peace to New Eng-land for two- 
score years. 

KING PHIL-IP'S WAR. 

In the year 1621 Mas-sa-soit, King of the Wam-pa- 
no-ags, who laid claim to all the land from Cape Cod 
to Nar-ra-gan-sett Bay, came down to New Plym-outh 
with three-score of his men. They were all armed, 
and had on their war-paint, and were on their way to 
call on Miles Stand-ish, and to make terms with him 



King Philip'' s War, 



109 



for peace or war. Terms of peace were made, and 
Mas-sa-soit was a good friend to the white men as long 






K fl'^t>. ,.^r 




MAS-SA-SOIT AND THE PU-RI-TANS. 



as he lived. He left two sons, one of whom was named 
Met-a-com-et, or Phil-ip. Phil-ip dwelt at Mount 
Hope, where he reigned o-ver the Po-ka-no-kets and 



no 



The Battles of America. 



the Wam-pa-no-ags, * and for twelve years af-ter his 
fa-ther's death he kept the peace. 

But when he saw how the white men spread them- 
selves o-ver the land, broke up the fields through 




PIL-GRIMS ON THEIR WAY TO CHURCH. 



which the red men had been wont to hunt the game, 
and drove them back from the shore so that they had 
no chance to catch fish, his heart grew hot with-in 
him, his young braves urged him to make war on the 



King Philips s War. iii 

pale-face foes, and tried in all ways to make him hate 
them, and ere long he was forced to yield to them and 
to go on the war-path. 

He struck the first blow at Swan-sey, Ju-ly 4, 1675, 
a place not quite four-score miles south-west of Ply- 
mouth. It was a fast day, and the white folks were on 
their way home from church when the red men fell 
■on them and slew them. 

The men of Bos-ton, horse and foot, joined the force 
at Ply-mouth, and all pressed on to Mount Hope, but 
found that Phil-ip and his braves had fled to a swamp 
at Po-cas-set. There they kept him in a state of siege 
for some days, but he at last found his way out and 
fled to the Nip-mucks, who were friends to his cause. 

With 1500 braves Phil-ip set out to burn and slay 
till not a white man was left in New Eng-land. Men 
were struck down in the fields, their homes were set 
on fire, and death stared the white folks in the face at 
all hours of the day and night. 

A score of Eno^-lish-men were sent to treat with the 
Nip-mucks. They met near Brook-field in Au-gust, 
1675, and the false red men slew the men from Bos- 
ton and set fire to the small town. Those who dwelt 
in Brook-field fled to one house in which they shut 
them-selves. 

Night and day, for two days, the red men .poured 
shot in up-on them, and thrust poles with fire-brands, 



112 The Battles of A merica. 

and rags dipped in brim-stone, tied to the ends of them 
to fire the house. Then they took a cart and filled it 
with hemp and flax and set it on fire, and thrust this 
up close to the house by means of long poles. But as 
soon as it be-gan to blaze, a storm of rain set in and 
put out the fire, or else all in the house, three-score 
and ten souls, would have been burnt up in the flames. 

In Sep-tem-ber, 1675, King Phil-ip and his men 
burned Deer-field, and slew some of those who made 
their homes there. The rest fled, and left a great 
store of wheat in stacks in the fields. 

Cap-tain Loth-rop, with four-score young men, were 
sent from H ad-ley to save this grain. As they drew 
near Deer-field, the red men sprang out up-on them, 
and but four of the brave white men were left to tell 
the tale. The fight was a fierce one, and in it 96 of the 
red men were slain. 

In the year 1704 some French-men and In-di-ans 
came on snow-shoes from Can-a-da to Deer-field, to 
get a bell that hung on top of the small church in that 
place. It had been bought in France for a small 
church at Caugh-na-wa-ga, near Mon-tre-al ; but the 
ship that bore it to A-mer-i-ca was seized by a New 
Enor-land man-of-war and ta-ken to Bos-ton. The 
bell was sold to the Deer-field church, of which John 
Wil-liams was the pas-tor. 

The priest at Caugh-na-wa-ga coaxed the red men 



King Philip"' s War. 113 

to go with him and Ma-jor de Ron-ville to get the 
bell. When they came near Deer-field they found the 
snow four feet deep, with a hard crust on top that bore 
them well. On drifts that lay near the stock-ades, or 
strong-holds built of up-right logs like a fence, they 
crawled a-long in the gloom of night while all the folks 
in Deer-field were a-sleep. Ere day-light had set in, 
on March i, 1704, their doors were burst in and the 
sound of the war-whoop roused them to a sense of their 
doom. Deer-field was set on fire. But one house 
and the church were saved from the flames. The bell 
was borne off, and found its place on top of the church 
at Caueh-na-wa-ora. More than two-score of the 
A-mer-i-cans were slain, and 120 were borne off to 
Can-a-da. Two of John Wil-liams' chil-dren were 
slain at his own door. With his wife and five chil-dren 
he took up his forced march to Can-a-da through the 
deep snow. His wife had a young babe in her arms, 
but two days old, and was in such a weak state that 
she fell down in a faint. The red man who had her 
in charo^e cleft her skull with his axe to rid him-self 
of the care of her. Her hus-band and chil-dren went 
on to Can-a-da, and for two years dwelt at Caugh- 
na-wa-ga with the In-di-ans, at the end of which 
time they were bought back and came to their own 
home. 

But, one child, a girl of ten years, named Eu-nice, 



TI4 The Battles of America. 

the red men would not part with. She grew up with 
them, and had the same tastes and the same ways as 
their own squaws. Once she went to Deer-field to see 
her own folks, but all they could say would not make 
her chanee her mode of Hfe or leave the church which 
she had joined. 

Phil-ip, proud of what he had done, made up his 
mind to strike a blow at Hat-field, one of the chief 
towns near Spring-field. But the Eng-lish were in 
wait for him and drove him back with great loss. He 
then went to Rhode Isl-and, where he was joined by 
the Nar-ra-gan-setts. Their chief, Ca-non-chet, had 
sworn to stand by the white men, and 1,500 men of 
New Eng-land marched out to seize him. They found 
the red men with King Phil-ip in a fort in a swamp at 
South Kings-ton, with food to last them through the 
win-ter. On De-cem-ber 19 the Eng-lish stood in 
front of the fort, and in a few hours 500 wig-wams 
were in flames, guns were fired, and great was the loss 
of life on both sides. Ca-non-chet was slain, but 
Phil-ip fled and found a safe place with the Nip- 
mucks. 

In the spring of 1676 he set out on the war-path 
once more, and laid waste whole towns, fields, and 
farms in Mas-sa-chu-setts. But ere long the red men 
fought a-mong them-selves, and some of the tribes left 
Phil-ip. 



ii6 The Battles of America. 

Cap-tain Church, an Eng-lish-man of much fame, 
set out to find the red men and to put a stop to their 
cru-el deeds. 

King Phil-ip was chased from place to place, and at 
last went to Mount Hope, sick at heart. In a few days 
he heard that his wife and son were in the hands of 
the Eng-lish. He was now crushed. " My heart 
breaks," he said. '* It is time for me to die." 

He was shot by an In-di-an — a false friend — and 
Cap-tain Church cut off his head and bore it on a pole 
in-to Ply-mouth. 

So died the last King of the Wam-pa-no-ags ; and 
his death and the end of King Phil-ip's war brought 
to a close the reio^n of the red men in New Enor-land. 

BRAD-DOCK'S DEFEAT. 

The French, who had made homes for them-selves 
in Can-a-da, sought to take up more land in the new 
world, and with the aid of the red men to so guard 
the O-hi-o River that the A-mer-i-cans would have 
no use of it. 

Their plans were found out, and on A-pril 2, 1754, 
some troops were sent from the South to the head of 
the O-hi-o River. George Wash-ing-ton led the 
van ; that is, he went out with those who were first in 
the field. He was then but 22 years of age. 



Braddock''s Defeat. 



117 



Mean-while Cap-tain Trent, and. those who dealt 
with the red men west of the great range of hills, had 
formed a band and set out to build a fort at the forks 
of the O-hi-o where three streams meet, and where 
Pitts-burgh now stands. On A-pril 18 a band of 




FORT DU-QUESNE. 



French-men and red-skins made an at-tack on the 
fort, drove out Trent and his men, built up the fort to 
suit them-selves, and named it Fort Du-quesne {^kane). 
News of this deed came to Wash-ing^-ton while he 



Ii8 llie Battles of America. 

was at Will's Creek, and he at once took up his 
march for a point less than two-score miles from the 
fort. There he learned that a strong force of French 
and red men were on their way to stop him, so he fell 
back to the Great Mead-ows, where he built a stock- 
ade, and called it Fort Ne-ces-si-ty. A stock-ade is a 
line of posts set in the earth as a fence, to shut in 
troops. 

While he was at work on this fort, scouts sent 
word to Wash-ing-ton by a red man known as Half- 
King, who was on good terms with the A-mer-i-cans, 
that the French were quite near his camp. 

Wash-ing-ton, at the head of two-score men, set off 
at nine o'clock of a dark night for the camp of Half- 
King. The rain poured down, and they did not 
reach the red men's home till sun-rise the next day, 
May 28, 1754. Half-King and his men joined Wash- 
ing-ton's troops, and when they found the foe in a lone 
place a-mong the rocks, they at once fired on them. 
A sharp fight took place. Ju-mon-ville, who led 
the French, and ten of his men were killed, while 
Wash-ing-ton lost but one man. This was the first 
blood shed in the French and In-di-an w^ar. 

Troops made haste to join Wash-ing-ton at Fort 
Ne-ces-si-ty, and he set out for Fort Du-quesne with 
400 men. But when word came to him that a large 
force of red men and a few of the French were on 




brad-dock's forces SUR-l'RlSED BY AN AM-BUS-CADE. 



I20 The Battles of America. 

the way to meet him, he fell back to Fort Ne-ces-si-ty, 
where a fight took place on the 3d of July. It was 
kept up for ten hours, at the end of which time Wash- 
ing-ton was forced to make terms of peace. The 
next day the troops marched out of the fort and went 
back to their homes. 

In 1755 a plan was laid by the A-mer-i-cans and 
Brit-ish to wrest Fort Du-quesne from the hands of 
the French, and on June 10, a large force of troops, 
with Gen-er-al Brad-dock at their head, set out from 
Will's Creek. 

Brad-dock was a Scotch-man, and had fought in 
more than one war on Brit-ish soil, and was quite set 
in his own way. Wash-ing-ton made bold to tell him 
that it would be well to spread his troops out and 
fight as the red men did, for they would hide be-hind 
a tree, a bush, or a rock, and pick out the men they 
meant to kill. 

Brad-dock curled his lips with scorn, and said, 
"What! Can you teach a Brit-ish gen-er-al how to 
fight ? My men are too brave to skulk be-hind trees ! " 
So his troops marched on, and on Ju-ly 9, crossed the 
Mo-non-ga-he-la and moved in close ranks a-long the 
south bank of that stream. At noon they crossed to 
the south shore, and thought themselves quite safe 
from the foe, when all at once a storm of shot and 
clouds of ar-rows struck them on their front and flanks. 



Braddock'^s Defeat. 121 

What Wash-ing-ton had in vain warned them of had 
come to pass. 

The war-whoops and wild yells of the red men 
were new to the Brit-ish, and filled them with a strange 
sort of fear. Brad-dock took the front of the fight, and 
did all he could to keep his men at their posts, and 
for more than two hours the bat-tie raged. 

Brad-dock had five hor-ses shot un-der him, and 
at last he too met with his death-wound. When 
Brad-dock fell the few of his troops that were left 
broke ranks and fled. When Wash-ing-ton, who 
was then forced to act as chief, saw that the day was 
lost, he called in the A-mer-i-can troops and bore 
Brad-dock from the field that he might die in peace. 
The foes did not give chase. The Brit-ish left their 
guns and their dead on the field. In three days Brad- 
dock was dead, and his grave was dug in the deep 
woods, where by torch-light his form was laid. 

This fieht which came to such a sad end is known 
as Brad-dock s de-feat. 

In 1758 Gen-er-al John Forbes set out with a large 
force of troops to move on Fort Du-quesne. It was 
known that the force there was small, and that the 
fort could be ta-ken with ease. But the march was 
such a slow one that by No-vem-ber 8, they were 
sfiU two-score and ten miles from the fort. This 
pace did not suit Wash-ing-ton, who was quick to 



122 The Battles of America. 

move and to act, and it was thought best to give up 
the scheme. 

Just then word was brought that there were but few 
troops in the fort, and Wash-ing-ton was at once sent 
to the front. When with-in a day's march of the fort 
they were seen by In-di-an scouts, who took word to 
the French that the foe were on them in great force. 
The French were in great fear, and set fire to the fort 
that night — No-vem-ber 24 — and fled down the O-hi-o 
in boats by the Hght of the wide-spread flames. 

The next day the Brit-ish flag was raised o-ver the 
spot where the strong-hold had been, and the name of 
the fort was changed to Fort Pitt. The small town 
that soon grew a-round it was called Pitts-burgh, and 
the name clings to it, though it is much more than a 
small town now-a-days. 



TIP-PE-CA-NOE. 

Te-cum-seh, or Wild-cat, '\w'2iS the name of a chief of 
one of the tribes of red men who lent their aid to the 
Brit-ish. He was brave and bold, and in the year 
18 1 1 sought to have all the tribes in the South join with 
those in the North-west, and slay all the white men, 
that the red men might have the land to them- 
selves. 

In the year 1812 he was sent out by the Brit-ish to 



Tippecanoe. 



123 



urge the tribes to join them a-gainst the A-mer-i-cans. 
The Choc-taws and Chick-a-saws paid no heed to his 
words, but the Sem-i-noles and Creeks did. He told 
the Creeks to throw a-way the plough and the loom, 
and cease to till the soil, for such work was not fit for 
brave men. 

Te-cum-seh took with him his brother, who was 
called The Proph-et. He 
was sharp and shrewd, and 
made the red men think that 
he had pow-er from God 
to work strange charms, to 
heal the sick, and to save 
from death. So great was 
his fame that men and wom- 
en would come a long way 
to see him, and to learn of 
him what was to come to 
pass. The Proph-et was 
not much to look at, for he 
had lost an eye in his youth, 
and his love of drink and the low life he had led 
made him seem an old man when quite young in years. 
It is said that he fell down one day, and was thought 
to be dead, but when his friends bore him to the grave 
he raised his eyes and said, " Be not fear-ful ; I have 
been in the Land of the Blest. Call the tribes that 1 




TE-CUM-SEH. 



124 '^^^^ Battles of America. 

may tell them what I have seen and heard." They 
came, and he told them such strange tales that they 
had great faith in him, and from that time forth he was 
known as The Proph-et. He told them he could make 
pump-kins as big as wig-wams spring out of the ground, 
and corn so lar^e that one ear would feed 12 men! 

He warned the Creeks that the A-mer-i-cans had 
come to drive them out of their land, and told them that 
their friends, the Brit-ish, had sent him from the Great 
Lakes to ask them to go on the war-path. 

The Proph-et had been told by the Brit-ish when a 
com-et would be in sight, and he told the red men that 
they would see the arm of Te-cum-seh stretched out in 
the sky, and they would know by that sign when to be- 
gin the war. The red men looked on him with awe, 
for the fame of Te-cum-seh and the Proph-et had gone 
be-fore them. 

But there was one big brave on whom all their arts 
failed. His name was Tus-ti-nug-gee Thluc-co. At 
length Te-cum-seh said, '* Tus-ti-nug-gee Thluc-co, 
your blood is white. You have ta-ken my red-sticks 
and my talk, but you do not mean to fight. I know 
why. You do not be-lieve the Great Spir-it has sent 
me. You shall be-lieve it. I will leave here at 
once, and go to De-troit. When I get there I will 
stamp my foot on the ground and shake ev-e-ry house 
in Toock-a-batch-a." 



Tippecanoe. 125 

Strange to say, at a-bout the time Te-cum-seh must 
have reached De-troit there was heard a deep roar 
un-der ground all through Al-a-ba-ma. The earth 
heaved so that the houses reeled and shook as if 
a-bout to fall. 

• The red-skins ran out in great fright, and cried out, 
"Te-cum-seh is at De-troit! Te-cum-seh is at De- 
troit! We feel the stamp of his foot!" It was the 
shock of an earth-quake that was felt all through the 
South in De-cem-ber, 18 12. At the same time a com- 
et was seen in the sky, and the Creeks at once rose 
up in arms. 

On the night be-fore the fight at Tip-pe-ca-noe, the 
Proph-et stood in the midst of his dupes — 700 red 
men — and told them that the time to crush the white 
men had come. He brought out what he made them 
think was a mao^-ic bowl. In one hand he held a 
torch, in the other a string of beads. Each brave was 
to touch this charm as a safe-guard from death, and 
then to take an oath that he would kill the white men. 
When this was done the Proph-et waved his arms 
this way and that and said o-ver some strange words 
to add strength to the charm. Then he said, as he 
held up the string of beads to make them think of 
their oath, " The time has come ; the white men are 
in your pow-er. They sleep now, and will nev-er 
a-wake. The Great Spir-it will give light to us, and 



126 



The Battles of America. 



will keep them in the dark. Their bul-lets shall not 
harm us, but not one of our ar-rows shall miss its 
mark." 

Then they sang war-songs and had a great war- 
dance, and wrought them-selves up in-to such a wild 
state that they were like mad-men. 







THE BUF-FA-LO DANCE. 



Let us now take a glance at the white men. At 
that time Wil-liam Hen-ry Har-ri-son was Gov-ern- 
or of In-di-an-a, and as soon as it was known that 
Te-cum-seh had gone south to stir up the red men 
to war, there was a loud call for troops. Har-ri-son 



Tippecanoe. 



127 



went up the Wa-bash as far as Ter-re Haute (high 
ground), and near there built a strong-hold which was 
called Fort Har-ri-son. 

He sent some chiefs to make terms with the Proph- 




WIL-LIAM HEN-RY HAR-RI-SON. 



et, who turned from them with scorn, for he was bent 
on war. So the troops pushed on, and on No-vem- 
ber 6, 181 1, went in-to camp with-in three miles of the 
Proph-et's town. Har-ri-son placed his men in the 



128 The Battles of America. 

form of a large square, and soon the whole camp was 
in a sound sleep. There had been a slight fall of rain, 
and the night was dark and damp. 

The red men from the camp of the Proph-et crept 
through the long grass, and with wild yells fell up-on 
Har-ri-son's camp. Such was their faith in Te-cum- 
seh and the Proph-et that they had gone out like a 
wild mob with no one to lead them. A fierce fight 
took place, which was kept up till af-ter day-light, 
when the red men were put to flight by the troops on 
horse-back. They left two-score of their dead on the 
field. More than three-score of Har-ri-son's men 
were slain. 

The horse-men rode to the Proph-et's town and 
found no one in it. So they set it on fire, and Har- 
ri-son fell back to Vin-cennes. 

This fight gave him great fame, and he had charge 
of all the troops in the North-west in the war of 1812, 
and was in Con-gress for a long term of years. When 
the time came to choose a new Pres-i-dent, the choice 
fell on him, and songs in praise 

Of Tip-pe-ca-noe 
And Ty-ler too 

rang through the land. He took his place March 4, 
1841, and just one month from that time he died. 



Little Big Horn. 



129 



LIT-TLE BIG HORN. 

Such was the growth of the U-ni-ted States that 
the red men were pushed to the far West and the 
North-west. At times force had to be used to get 
them to move from the land on which they had Hved 
so long that they felt that they owned it. 

These wars caused 
much blood - shed, and 
both white men and red 
men did deeds that seemed 
more like the work of 
fiends. 

The Mo-docs were first 
found on the south shore 
of Lake Kla-math, in Cal- 
i-for-ni-a. Their name 
means "foes." They drest 
in skins. In their wars 
they held cap-tives as 
slaves, and sold them when 
they had a good chance. 
They were in-deed foes to 
the white men, and had slain those who had sought 
to make homes for them-selves in the " land of crold." 

A man named Ben Wright thought they should be 
paid back for these deeds. It may be that some of 




GEN-E-RAL CUS-TER. 



130 



The Battles of America. 




his folks had been killed by 
the Mo-docs. So in 1852 
he made a feast, and sent 
for a band of Mo-docs to 
share in it. They came in 
good faith, when Wright 
and his friends fell on them 



A CROW CHIEF. 




and slew 41 ot the 
46 who were there. 

The Mo-docs 
could not for-give 
such a wrong as 
that, and war with 
them was kept up 
till the year 1864, 
when they made 
terms with the 
U - ni - ted States, 
gave up their lands, and said they would go else- 
where. 

The white men did not keep their word with them, 



AN O-JIB-E-WAY CHIEF. 



Little Big Horn. 131 

and this made the red men hot with wrath. A clan 
known as Cap-tain Jack's band were so full of fight 
that their own tribe found fault with them, and they 
were told to go back to the Kla-maths. This they 
would not do, and in the spring of 1872 troops were 
sent to drive them out of Or-e-gon. The whites were 
forced back with loss, and the Mo-docs fled to the 
La-va Beds — where a vol-ca-no had once been and 
burnt it-self out — and there they were safe from their 
foes for a while. 

In June, 1873, Gen-er-al Whea-ton tried to drive the 
Mo-docs from their strong-hold, but could not get 
with-in three miles of them, af-ter the loss of not a few 
of his troops. Gen-er-al Gil-lem met with the same 
luck. In the mean-time the U-ni-ted States had formed 
a plan by which they thought to make peace with these 
Mo-docs. A band of wise men were sent out to treat 
with them. They met with the red men for a peace 
talk on A-pril 11, 1873, when the Mo-docs shot 
down Gen-er-al Can-by and Dr. Thom-as in cold 
blood. This foul deed was the cause of a long and 
fierce war with the Mo-docs, and at last Cap-tain Jack 
and his band were forced to come to terms. The 
chief and three of his head men were tried and hung 
at Fort Kla-math, Oc-to-ber 3, 1873. 

In 1867 the Sioux {soos) had made terms by which 
they were to give up all their lands south of the Ni-o- 



132 The Battles of America. 

bra-ra Riv-er in Ne-bras-ka, and go to a new place in 
Da-ko-ta called the Black Hills, by Jan-u-a-ry i, 
1876. In the mean time gold was found in the place 
set a-part for the Sioux, and hordes of white men from 
all parts of the world flocked to the Black Hills. 

On the strength of this the Sioux made raids on all 
the land a-round, stole all they could lay hands on, set 
fire to the homes that had been put up, and slew all 
those who dared cross their path. Their chief was 
Sit-ting Bull, and he would not come in and live on 
the land set a-part for him and his band. They stole 
so much land from the Crows, who were more fond 
of peace than of war, that they asked for help from the 
white men. A large force of troops were sent out, 
with Gen-er-als Ter-ry and Crook at their head, to 
drive the Sioux back, and to take Sit-ting Bull by the 
horns, as it were. 

The troops had been in camp for some time, and it 
was a sad hour for their wives when they set forth to 
meet the foe. Their march was from Mis-sou-ri to the 
Yel-low-stone Riv-er in Mon-ta-na. 

Gen-er-al George A. Cus-ter — a brave man, who 
dared do all that man could do — was at the head of 
the 7th Cav-al-ry. 

The Sioux were forced back to the Big Horn 
Moun-tains, and Cus-ter and Re-no were sent on to 
find out just where they were, and how large a force 



Little Big Horn. 133 

they had. The Sioux were found in camp on the left 
bank of the Lit-tle Horn Riv-er. 

The red men keep out-posts and fires on each hill- 
top so that no one could reach their camps with-out be- 
ing seen. The In-di-an scouts who were with the 
troops made out as well as they could that Sit-ting Bull 
had with him at least looo men. 

Cus-ter thought that he and his 300 men were a 
match for so small a force, and did not wait for troops to 
come up to aid him in case of need. But Sit-ting Bull 
was more shrewd, and had sent here and there for aid till 
his band had swelled to five times the size it was when 
it fled to Big Horn. 

Had Cus-ter known this he would not have been so 
rash, but on June 25 he charged on the Sioux and was 
met by a force more than ten times the size of his 
own. No one knows just what took place, for Cus- 
ter and all his brave horse-men fell in the fight. 

Fresh troops were sent to the front, and the Sioux 
were so hard pressed that they fled to Can-a-da, with 
Sit-ting Bull and Cra-zy Horse, and set up their camp 
on the north side of the Milk Riv-er.- 



134 



The Battles of America. 



CHAPTER XII. 

BULL RUN; JULY 21, 1861. 

We now come to a sad, sad time. The Good Book 
says that "a man's worst foes are those of his own 
house-hold," which means It is worse for those who 

live in the same 
house to fall out 
than it is for 
those who are 
not friends. 

Now the whole 
U-ni-ted States 
had been like one 
great house-hold 
for a long term of 
years. U-ni-ted 
means joined; 
held firm and fast. 
But as bad boys and girls — old and young — can 
up-set a home and rob it of all its joy and peace, so 
some of those who made up the U-ni-ted States and 
should have been its best friends, proved false, and 
with hearts full of hate broke the bond that made them 
One. 




FORT SUM-TER AF-TER THE BOM-BARD-MENT. 



Battle of Bull Run. 



135 




IN-TE-RI OK OF FORI SUM-TER AF-TER THE 
rOM LARD-MENT 



Then men took sides. 
Some were for the North, 
and some for the South, 
and there were hot words, 
and fierce looks, and a 
mur-mur in the air that 
told that a storm was close 
at hand. It broke in 
A-pril, 1 86 1, when the South fired on Fort Sum-ter, 
just off the coast of South Car-o-li-na, and forced her 
to haul down her flag. 



136 



The Battles of America. 




FLAG OF FORT SUM-TER AF-TER THE 
BOM-BARD-MENT. 



An old man named 
Ruf-fin, who was three- 
score and ten years of 
age, fired the first shot, 
and made a great boast 
of this feat w^hich caused 
such a flow of blood and 
tears. The shot from that 
gun sent a thrill of fear 
through the hearts of all 
true A-mer-i-cans, and 

the cry To arms! To arms! rang through-out the 

length and breadth of the land. 

Troops fi-om the North set out at once for Wash- 
ing-ton to guard that place, and the tramp ! tramp ! 

tramp! of armed men was heard on the streets of 

all the large towns. Most of the troops were "green" 

and had to be taught 

how to march and fisfht 

all at the same time; 

but they were full of 

pluck, and kept up 

heart in the face of the 

worst kind of ills. 
The first hard fig^ht 

took place at Bull Run, 

J U-iy 21, lODi, DC- THE CON-FED-ER-ATE FLAG. 




The Battles of A m eric a. 




THE SIXTH MAS-SA-CHU-SETTS REG-I-MENT IN BAL-TI-MORE. 

tween Gen-er-al McDow-ell and his troops from the 
North, and Gen-er-al Beau-re-o-ard and his men, who 



Battle of Bull Run. 



39 



had their post at Man-as-sas. Bull Run was a small 
stream in Vir-ein-ia that ran be-tween Man-as-sas and 
Cen-tre-ville. 

The main road crossed the Run at Black-burn's 
ford, three miles from Cen-tre-ville, and on each side 
were two more roads that 
struck the Run at Un-ion 
Mills and the Stone Bridge. 
At all these points the 
South had guns and guards 
placed to keep back the 
foe. But McDow-ell found 
a good ford at Sud-ley 
Springs, two miles a-bove, 
to which there was no road, 
but which could be reached 
with ease through the 
woods. 

His plan was to pass 
Sud-ley Springs with his 
right, and turn the left flank 
of the foe. The time to 
start was fixed for half past two o'clock of Sun-day 
morn-ing, Ju-ly 21, and at mid-night the troops were 
all a-stir. But it took them a long time to get out 
on the road, and the route through the woods was 
so long- and so hard that the head of the line did not 




IR-VIN McDOW-ELL. 



140 



The Battles of America. 



reach the stream till half past nine — three hours too 
late. Mean-while, Ty-ler had reached Stone Bridge 
on the turn-pike, and at half past six fired his gun, 
as he had been told to do by McDow-ell. 

The noise of Ty-ler's guns roused the foe, and 

Col-o-nel Ev-ans, who was 
on the left of the Stone 
Bridge, made a change of 
front, and marched out to 
meet McDow-ell's men as 
they came out of the woods. 
These men were in charge 
of Gen-er-al Burn-side, and 
as soon as the head of the 
line came in sight Ev-ans 
fired on them, and for half 
an hour a brisk fight was 
kept up, by which time 
Burn-side had his troops in 
hand. 

Fresh troops and field- 
guns were sent to aid both, 
but the Un-ion troops had it all their own way, and 
soon put their foes to flight. Up the slope of land to 
its top-most crest rushed the troops of Col-o-nel Bee, 
and there found that a large force of troops held the 
heights, with Col-o-nel Jack-son at their head. Here 




G. T. BEAU-KE-GARD. 



Battle of Bull Run. 



141 



Bee brought his Hne in-to shape, and said to his men 
to rouse their hearts, "There stands Jack-son just Hke 
a stone-wall!" and the name of Stone-wall Jack-son 
clung to him from that day. 

Johns-ton and Beau-re-gard came up to the aid of 
Bee and Bar-tow, and McDow-ell moved on them with 
18,000 men. The _ _ 

Con-fed-er-ates 
now took their stand 
on a piece of high 
land at the base of 
which ran Bull Run 
and the small creeks 
that were a part of 
the stream. The 
main part of the hill 
was broad and bare, 
but at the south and 
east were thick pine 
woods, and on the 
west the Sud-ley 
road ran through a dense growth of stur-dy oak trees 

In the first fight the Un-ion troops had seized 
the slopes that led up the hill from the turn-pike. 
A turn-pike road is one where toll-gates are set, 
and a tax is paid to keep the high-way in good 
order. 




STONE BRIDGE. 



142 



Tlie Battles of America. 



The Un-ion troops sought now to sweep the Con- 
fed-er-ates from the top of the hill, and the smooth 
space be-yond, and at noon they were in the midst of 
the fight. 

Hard pressed, Ev-ans' line was a-bout to give way 
when Gen-er-al Bee came up with fresh ^troops, and 

gave it strength. Then the 
Un-ion line lost its hold, 
for the men were worn out 
with the long march and 
hard fight, and fresh troops 
were sent to their aid. 

A charge made by some 
New York troops, led by 
Col-o-nel H. W. Slo-cum, 
broke the Con-fed-er-ate 
line, and the troops fled in 
wild haste to a field, where 
their flight was checked. 
(STONE- By this time Jo-seph E. 
Johns-ton was on the field, 
to act as chief, and his gaze was fixed on the gaps 
in the hills through which he hoped to see fresh 
troops on their way to aid him. For well he knew 
that with-out these he could not hope to win the day. 
Two o'clock came — and no fresh troops were in 
sight. 







THOM-AS JON-A-THAN JACK-SON 
WALL.) 



Battle of Bull Run. 



143 



On the Un-ion left Keyes' troops charged up the 
slope from the turn-pike, and found them-selves In a 
sharp fight with men on horse and on foot. But they 
reached the crest at last and seized the house there, 
which they held but for a short time. The great 
fight, mean-while, was on 
the Un-ion right, not far 
fi*om the Hen-r)^ House, 
where the Con-fed-er-ates 
had placed their field-guns, 
and on which from a hill- 
top near the Un-ion can- 
non had played. Rick- 
€tts' and Grif-fin's troops 
had charge of these guns, 
and with them were Ells- 
worth's Fire Zou-aves, 
drest like Turks in bright 
red suits with fez caps and 
white leg-gings. 

They made a great show, 
and were a rough lot of 

boys and men who could use their fists if their guns 
failed them. More troops from the East and West 
came up to swell the Un-ion force. The gun-ners 
and the Zou-aves were on the march, when all at once 
the Con-fed-er-ates fired on their flank, and Stu-art's 




^H 



JO-SEPH JOHNS-TON. 



144 



The Battles of America. 



Black Horse Cav-al-ry came up in the rear, and the 
Zou-aves fell back. Then some Un-ion troops from 
Min-ne-so-ta were sent to fill up the gap, when down 
on them came a Con-fed-er-ate fire that thinned their 
ranks. 

The loss was great on both sides. 
It was now three o'clock. The day was hot, and 

the air full of smoke 
- ^ \ '^^ and dust. McDow- 

ell still felt that he 
could make the day 
his own. Johns-ton 
sighed for more 
troops. Just then 
he saw a cloud of 
dust on the line of 
the Man-as-sas Gap 
rail-way ; and soon 
4000 fresh troops 
swelled the Con-fed- 
er-ate ranks. Loud cheers and the rat-tie of guns 
were heard on the right flank and rear of the Un-ion 
troops, who fought their way up the ridge to the 
Hen-ry House. 

It was the van-guard of Con-fed-er-ate troops led 
by Gen-er-al Kir-by Smith. The Un-ion troops, 
worn out with their lonor march, faint from lack of 










PICK-ET DU-TY. 



Battle of Bull Run. 



HS 



food, and parched with thirst, gave way at the fierce 
on-set of the Con-fed-er-ates. Like wild-fire ran from 




BAT-TLE OF BULL RUN. 



man to man the cry that "Johns-ton's troops had 
come!" and they fled down the slopes, and ran in wild 
haste from the field of blood. 



146 



The Battles of America. 



Crowds drove out to see the fight, as they would 
have done if a cir-cus had come in-to town, and the 
heights all round were gay with folks — great and 
small — who looked on and thought it a fine show. 

But there was no fun in it when the Con-fed-er- 
ates gave chase to the Un-ion troops in their wild 
flight down the slopes. Pale with fright the crowd 
rushed pell-mell down the heights, blocked the roads 

with their teams, not 
a few of which were 
up-set, and ran this 
way and that in their 
wild haste to find a 
safe place. 

As ofood luck would 
have it, Johns-ton gave 
up the chase, and the 
folks found their way 
home in a calm-er frame of mind. 

McDow-ell saw that all was lost. He did his best 
to check the flight of his "raw" troops, but it was no 
use. They were not used to war, and no doubt 
thought they had done the right thing. For 

" He who fights and runs a-way 
May Hve to fight an-oth-er day." 




AR-MY HUTS. 



But they soon learned to stand fire, and did good 



Battle of Bull Run. 



147 



work in the war, the first shock of which gave them 
such a great scare, as well it might. 

The news of the fight at Bull Run sent a thrill of 
joy through the whole South. 
The Con-fed-er-ates were sure 
now that their cause would 
win, and they were full of 
pride, and made haste to add 
to their stock of arms, ships, 
and such things as they had 
need of. 

The North was cast down, 
and hearts that had beat high 
with hope were now deep in 
gloom. But this did not last 
long. "There is no such word 
as fail" to those who set out 
with a high aim, and theirs was 
to save the Un-ion. They 
saw now, as they had not done at first, that the war 
was to be a long one ; and if they would win they 
must stand firm, put their trust in God, and fight with 
all the strength they had. 




MON-U-MENT E-RECT-ED ON THE 
BAT-TLE-FIELD. 



148 



The Battles of A nierica. 




CHAPTER XIII.. 

FORT DONELSON: FEBRUARY 16, 1862. 

The year 1862 found the North and South at war in 

the heart of the U-ni-ted States, through which runs 

the Ten-nes-see 
Riv-er. This 
stream joins the 
O-hi-o Riv-er, 
and on both were 
a lonor line of 
strong forts and 
earth-works. 

At a bend of 
the riv-er, twelve 
miles from where 
it joins the Cum- 
ber-land, the 
Con-fed-er-ates 

built Fort Hen-ry on the right bank, and Fort Hie- 

man on the left — on a high hill. 

In Feb-ru-a-ry, 1862, a land force led by Gen-er-al 

(J-lys-ses S. Grant, and a fleet of boats in charge of 
om-mo-ddre A. H. Foote were sent to seize those 

two forts. 

Fort Hen-ry had 17 great guns, twelve of which 



Battle of Fo7'f Don el son. 



149 



swept the riv-er, and there were less than 3000 troops 
in camp out-side. These were in com-mand of Gen- 
er-al Tilgh-man {till-maii). 

Foote brought four of his gun-boats in-to Hne, and 




COM-MO-DORE FOOTE. 



sent a storm of bomb-shells on to the fort. His fierce 
shots soon made them-selves felt. In a short time one 
of the large guns burst and killed three of the men at 
the piece. Then a shell came in and hurt some more 



I50 



The Battles of America. 



The flag of the Un-ion 
on the soil of 



of the gun-ners. It was not long ere one of the 42 
pound-ers went off too soon and killed three men; and 
by this time the gun-ners lost heart, and ceased to work 
the small guns, which they felt were too light to harm 
the i-ron-clad gun-boats. 

Tilgh-man did his best to urge the men on, but they 
were worn out, and in less than an hour the white flag 

was sent up as a sign that they 

gave up the fight. 

Word was at once sent by 

wire to the North: " Fort Hen-ry 

is ours ! 

waves once more 

Ten-nes-see!" 

The troops out-side the fort 

fled to Fort Don-el-son, twelve 

miles off, and less than four-score 
men were left in the fort to lay down their arms to 
Com-mo-dore Foote. 

Gen-er-al Grant and his land troops had found the 
roads deep with mire, and their march from the place 
where they went on shore was a slow one. They 
came up too late to take part in the fight, or to give 
chase to the Con-fed-er-ates, who thus had a good 
chance to get in-side the walls of Fort Don-el-son. 

This part of the Con-fed-er-ate land force was then 
in com-mand of Al-bert Sid-ney Johns-ton. The 




AL-BERT SID-NEY JOHN-STON. 



Battle of Fort Donelson. 1 5 1 

South knew that if Fort Don-el-son fell Nash-ville 
would be lost, so fresh troops were sent at once to add 
to its strength. On Feb-ru-a-ry 12, Gen-er-al Buck- 




GEN-ER-AL GRANT. 



ner brought a lar^e force from Bow-lino^ Green, and 
the next day Gen-er-al Floyd came with more, and 
he took charge of the whole Con-fed-er-ate force. 
Fort Don-el-son stood on the high left bank of the 



152 



The Battles of America. 



Cum-ber-land Riv-er, two-score miles from where it 
pours it-self in-to the O-hi-o. It was a large field- 
work near the town of Do-ver, and on the land side 
of it there were hills and dales and deep sloughs 
that made it still more of a strong-hold. 

At Fort Hen-ry Gen- 
er-al Grant placed his army 
in three parts, in charge of 
McCler-nand, Smith, and 
Lew Wal-lace. Foote 
went back to Cai-ro {ki-ro) 
to take his mor-tar boats — 
those that threw the bomb- 
shells — up the Cum-ber- 
land to aid in the fight. 

On the morn-ing of Feb- 
ru-ary 12, 1862, McCler- 
nand and Smith set out for 
Fort Don-el-son, while 
Wal-lace stayed to hold 
the forts on the Ten-nes- 
see. That night Fort Don- 
el-son was hemmed in. On all sides were Un-ion 
troops. At dawn of the 13th the Un-ion guns were 
fired and a fierce fight took place, and Grant's men 
were forced back with great loss. The night grew 
cold, and a fierce rain-storm set in. Grant's men had 




JOHN A. McCLER-NAND. 



Batth of Fort Donehon. 



153 



no tents, and they were chilled through and through. 

They dared not light camp-fires, for fear of the guns 

of their foes, and they were scant of food and clothes. 

The next day, the 14th, Foote came up with his 




I-RON-CLAD GUN-BOAT. 



gun-boats and brought food and fresh troops, that were 
hailed with cheers of joy by the boys in blue. 

By three o'clock in the af-ter-noon Foote had his 
gun-boats in range, a mile and a half a- way, and sent 
up a fire from all the guns that could be brought to 
bear on the fort. The Con-fed-er-ates did not send 



1^4 The Battles of America. 

back one shot till the boats came up with-in point- 
blank range. Then all the guns on the shore, twelve 
in all, sent forth their fire, and a fierce fight was kept 
up be-tween the fleet and the fort. 

But the shot and shell of the ships spent their force 
on the sand-banks round the fort, and not a man was 
killed, while the Con-fed-er-ate guns made their shots 
tell on the fleet. The gun-boat which Foote was on, 
which was the flag-ship, was struck at least three-score 
times ; one shot killed the man at the wheel, and the 
Com-mo-dore was hurt in the foot. One by one the 
boats fell back, and at the end of an hour and a half 
the fleet gave up the fight, with a loss of 54 of its 
men. 

The South was full of joy, and at once sent the 
news to Rich-mond. But when the sun went down 
that night the troops in front of Fort Don-el-son were 
in a sad plight. The cold was so sharp that the men 
dared not lie down to sleep lest they should freeze to 
death. Grant did not know what it was best to do. 

On the morn of the 15th, ere yet it was broad day, 
Foote sent for Grant to come and see him on board 
the flag-ship, as he was too much hurt to come him- 
self Grant set out on horse-back, and was forced to 
go at a slow pace, as the roads were in such a bad 
state, much worse than if they had been a mass of 
mud. Grant had thought that if there was a land. 



Battle of Fort Donelson. 



155 



fight he would have to bring it on him-self, and laid 
his plans for a long siege. But when he came back 
from the flag-ship he was met by one of his staff, who, 
with a face white with fear, told him that the Con-fed- 
er-ates had come 
out in full force 
and put McCler- 
nand's troops to 
flight. 

Grant was four 
or five miles north 
of the left of his 
line, which 
three miles 
He rode as fast as 
he could, and saw 
no signs of rout 
till he came to the 
right of his line, 
where McCler-nand's men had had to bear the brunt 
of the at-tack. He was told that the foe had come 
out with their knap-sacks on, as if they meant to stay 
out and fight as long as their food held out. But they 
fell back when fresh troops came up, and that made it 
clear to Grant's mind that some of the Con-fed-er-ates 
had tried to force their way out of the fort, and that it 
was time now to strike the blow. So he told Col-o- 



was 
long. 




DOU-BLE TUR-RET I-RON-CLAD. 



156 The Battles of A^nerica. 

nel Web-ster to ride with him and call out to the men 
to come in-to line, for the Con-fed-er-ates meant to 
leave the fort if they could, and they must do their 
best to keep them back. 

This brought each man to his place. It was noon, 
and Grant was on the field, and he bade McCler-nand 
take back the hill he had lost. This was soon done 
by the brave troops, and they camped on the new won 
field that cold win-ter night. Mean-while Gen-er-al 
Smith had struck the Con-fed-er-ates such hard blows 
on the right that when night came on they were shut 
in the trench-es — or ditch-es — and there was no way 
for them to get out. 

Scouts who had been sent out to view the land 
brought back the real state of the case, and Floyd, 
Pil-low, and Buck-ner saw that the game was lost. 
There was but one thing for them to do, but who was 
to do it? 

Pil-low said, 'T will not sur-ren-der! I will die 
first!" 

Floyd said, "Nor will I. It won't do. It won't 
do." 

He had once held a high place in Wash-ing-ton, and 
had sworn to be true to the Un-ion and to the Stars 
and Stripes. He had been false to his oath, and if 
caught would have been tried and no doubt hung, for 
his crimes were great. So he had good cause for fear. 



Battle of Fort Donelson. 157 

Buck-ner, who was a brave man, then said, *' I will 
sur-ren-der, and share the fate of my men." 

In the night two small steam-boats had come up the 
Cum-ber-land. Floyd seized them and fled up the 
stream with part of his troops, while Pil-low, with the 
aid of a skiff, sneaked off in the dark and made his way 
to his home in Ten-nes-see. 

Buck-ner wrote a note to Grant, to ask him on 
what terms he would make peace, and sent it out with 
a flag of truce. 

Grant wrote back that he would make no terms but 
a free and full sur-ren-der, and said, " I pro-pose to 
move at once up-on your works." 

Buck-ner did not like the style of Grant's note, but 
was forced to yield to what he thought were harsh 
terms, and at dawn of the next day 10,000 men 
laid down their arms, and the Stars and Stripes flung 
out their folds o-ver the strong-hold on the Cum-ber- 
land. 

On March 9, 1862, the great sea fight took place at 
H amp-ton Roads be-tween the Mo7^-i-tor and the 
Mer-ri-mac, which you will have to read of else-where, 
as there is not space in this book to tell it as it ought 
to be told. The Mon-i-tor was a new kind of boat — 
"like a cheese-box on a raft" — and it won the day, 
and fought like a spit-fire. 



158 The Battles of America. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

SHILOH : APRIL 6 AND 7, 1862. 

On the west bank of the Ten-nes-see, near the south 
end of the State Hne, is Pitts-burg Land-ing, where 
steam-boats were wont to leave or call for freight on 
their way up or down the river. The banks at the 
Land-ine rise to a heis^ht of four-score feet, and are 
cleft here and there by great chasms, through one of 
which runs the main road to Cor-inth. Back of the 
bluff is a flat piece of land, cleared near the shore, but 
rough and with a orrowth of woods out from the stream. 

On a ridge three miles out was Shi-loh Church, 
built of logs in a rude style. Near it two small streams 
— Snake Creek and Lick Creek, five miles a-part — 
wound their way to the Ten-nes-see and came out on 
each side of Pitts-burg Land-ing. This ridge was 
held by Sher-man, with a lot of raw troops who were 
yet to take part in their first fight. McCler-nand was 
on his left with the troops that had fought at Forts 
Hen-ry and Don-el-son. Next to him was Pren-tiss 
with more raw troops ; Stu-art was on the far left, 
and Hurl-but in the rear. Gen-er-al C. F. Smith's 
men were on the right in charge of Gen-er-al W. H. L. 
Wal-lace, who had served in the Mex-i-can War. 
Smith was sick in bed in Sa-van-na, with-in sound of 



Battle of S hit oh. 



159 



the Un-ion oruns, and from that bed he did not rise 



again. 



The foe were in force at Cor-inth, where two great 
rail-roads joined : one that led through Mem-phis to 
the East, and one that led south to all the cot-ton States. 

On A-pril 2 Johns-ton moved on the Un-ion 
troops, and seized a 
guard of five or six 
men five miles out from 
Pitts-burg on the Cor- 
inth road. Sher-man 
gave chase at once, and 
drove the bold horse- 
men three miles from the 
point where the guards 
were seized. 

Grant had to keep 
watch on all sides, and 
it had been his plan to 
spend the day at Pitts- 
burg and ride back to 
Sa-van-na at night-fall. 
But there was such a 
stir at the front from A-pril 3 that he did not leave 
Pitts-burg till quite late at night. 

On the 4th he set out in great haste for the front, 
from whence came the sound of guns. The night 




WILL-IAM T. SHER-MAN. 



i6o The Battles of America, 

was dark, and it rained hard. Now and then a fierce 
flash lit up the sky and made the scene more weird 
and strange. Grant had to trust to his horse to keep 
the road. He had not gone far when he met Wal- 
lace and McPher-son, who brought word that all was 
still at the front. On his way back to the boat the 
horse slipped and fell on Grant's leg, and for two or 
three days he had to go on crutch-es. 

The Un-ion troops were stretched out in one long 
line from Lick Creek on the left to Snake Creek on 
the right, both of which streams were so high that the 
foe had to make their at- tack on the front. They came 
up with such a dash that the line of Un-ion tents 
soon fell in-to their hands. They tried hard to turn 
the right flank which Sher-man held, and to ward them 
off the Un-ion troops had to fall back from time to 
time and take posts near Pitts-burg Land-ing. 

In one of these moves Pren-tiss and his troops did 
not fall back with the rest, and by this means he and 
2000 of his men fell in-to the hands of the Con-fed- 
er-ate foe. 

Though mxost of Sher-man's troops had their first 
taste of war at Shi-loh — and some of them had their 
guns placed in their hands on the way to the field — 
**they fought like brave men, long and well," and had 
great faith in their chief, "Te-cum-seh." 

On the 6th Sher-man was shot twice, once in the 



Battle of SMloh. 



i6i 



hand, and once in the shoul-der, when the ball cut 
his coat and made a slight wound. A third ball went 
through his hat, and more than one horse was shot 
from under him in this great fight. His loss would 
have been a sad one for his troops had he been forced 
to leave the field at Shi-loh. 
It was the plan of the Con- 
fed-er-ates to turn the 
Un-ion left, sweep a-long 
the bank, seize their base 
at the Land-ing, and then 
drive them down the 
stream. For a time they 
held their ground, but in 
the hot fire that was sent 
back a ball struck Gen-er- 
al Al-bert Sid-ney Johns- 
ton as he sat on his horse 
and gave him his death- 
wound. 

It was now three o'clock 
and the battle was at its 
heiorht. Braee drove Stu-art and Hurl-but to the 
Land-inor. Braee cried out to his men, "For-ward! 
for-ward!" Beau-re-gard's or-der had been, "For- 
ward, boys, and drive them in-to the Ten-nes-see!" 
and there was the stream close at hand. 




DON CAR-LOS BU-ELL. 



i62 The Battles of America. 

One more dash, and they were sure to win the 
day! At five o'clock the out-look for the Un-ion 
troops was a sad one. But hope was not lost with 
Grant and Sher-man there. 

On the top of the bluff, and just south of the log- 
house at Pitts-burg Land-ing, Col-o-nel Web-ster, of 
Grant's staff, had placed a score or more of large 
siege guns. These guns faced the south, and were 
on the edge of a deep gorge. 

The right of the line was now — at the close of Sun- 
day — near the bank of Snake Creek, not far from a 
bridge which had been built by the troops to join 
Crump's and Pitts-burg Land-ings. 

Sher-man had some troops in a log-house to guard 
the bridge by which Lew. Wal-lace and his troops 
were to come from Crump's Land-ing. Through the 
night the foe tried to drive Sher-man from this post, 
but he held it till he gave it up of his own free will. 

Then the foe sought to turn the left flank, but were 
swept back by the fire from the gun-boats Ty-ler and 
Lex-i7ig-ton and from the guns on top of the hill. 

At dusk Bu-ell came up with fresh troops and 
formed the left wing, and when it was quite dark Lew. 
Wal-lace brought 5000 more, which were placed at 
the right. That night a fierce storm set in and 
drenched the Un-ion troops, who were with-out tents. 
Grant sat under a tree. The bruise on his leo: Sfave 



164 The Battles of America. 

him such pain that he could get no rest. For a change 
he went back to the log-house down by the shore. All 
night men were brought in here to have their wounds 
dressed, or a leg or an arm cut off, and these sights 
made Grant haste with speed to the tree. 

The next day, the 7th, the troops on both sides rose 
at dawn, tired, wet, and faint for want of food. The 
Con-fed-er-ates were in the Un-ion camps, from which 
Bu-ell and Wal-lace meant to rout them. No time was 
to be lost. Beau-re-gard met the on-set with a firm 
front, and soon the whole field was in the fight. Now 
the Blue would seem to gain, then the Gray ; then there 
came a lull, and at one o'clock the fight went on more 
fierce than ev-er. 

At half past one o'clock Beau-re-gard sent word to 
his men to with- draw from the field. The last point 
held by him was near the road that led from the Land- 
ing to Cor-inth. At three o'clock Grant drew near 
that point, and gave the command to his men, Charge! 
With loud cheers and a run they burst through the 
woods, and the foe broke ranks and fled. By four 
o'clock the last gun was fired, and the fight was at an 
end on the field of Shi-loh. 

The Un-ion loss was 1754. These were killed on 
the field. Beau-re-gard is said to have lost 1728 men 
in the two days' fight. 



Battle of A ntietam. 



165 



CHAPTER XV. 

ANTIETAM : SEPTEMBER 17, 1862. 

In the Spring of 1862 Gen-er-al Rob-ert E. Lee 
was placed in com-mand of the Con-fed-er-ates, as 
Johns-ton had been hurt in the fight at Fair Oaks. 
George B. McClel-lan 
had charge of the Ar-my 
of the Po-to-mac, and 
Pope of the Ar-my of 
Vir-gin-ia, and both had 
met with Lee and been 
swept back from their 
posts. Hal-leck was 
now chief of the Un-ion 
troops, and in Ju-ly of 
this year Lin-coln sent 
out a call for 300,000 men 
to serve till the close of 
the war. And they came. Lee made up his mind to 
cross the Po-to-mac, strike Bal-ti-more, and fall on 
Wash-ing-ton in the rear. On Sep-tem-ber 2, he 
sent a van-guard to Lees-burg, and at the end of five 
days the rest of his troops came up, crossed the Po-to- 
mac at the Point of Rocks, and went in camp not far 
from the town of Fred-e-rick. 




ROB-ERT ED-MUND LEE. 



i66 



77^6^ Battles of A m erica. 



Here Lee hung out his flag, and thought to add to 
his force, but in-stead of that not a few of his men ran 
off, so that he lost more than he gained. 

When McClel-lan heard of Lee's move, he left 
Wash-ing-ton with 90,000 men, and went out to meet 

thegreat Con-fed-er-atechief 
But at sight of such a force 
Lee fell back, and the Un-ion 
men gave chase in two long 
lines. Burn-side led the 
right, by way of Tur-ner's 
Gap, and the left went by the 
way of Cramp-ton's Gap, 
which was near Har-per's 
Fer-ry. 

The Con-fed-er-ates had 
no thought that the Un-ion 
men would keep up the chase 
as they did ; but on the morn- 
ing of Sep-tem-ber 14, 1862, 
a strange sight met their gaze 
as they looked down from the heights. The vale 
was filled with Un-ion troops, who pushed their way 
up South Moun-tain and fought for each inch of 
o^round. Lono^-street came to the aid of Hill, who 
fought for the South ; and Hook-er's troops, with 
Rick-etts', Re-no's, and Kinor's, lent streno^th to 




GEORGE B. McCLEL-LAN. 



iiftKTs:'-''jaHi>'PWK';r\: 1 !i frT^ 






J|M-^'i: 




1 68 The Battles of America. 

the Un-Ion side. At dusk Hook-er turned the left 
flank of the foe. Re-no's men, who had gained a foot- 
hold on the crest, fought hard till dark. At sun-set 
Re-no was killed at the head of his troops, and died 







HAR-PER S FER-RY. 



just ere the cheers went up that told the fight was won. 
In the night Lee drew back to a point near Har- 
per's Ferry, which was held by Un-ion troops. In com- 
mand of Col-o-nel D. H. Miles. The Con-fed-er- 
ates, led by Jack-son and Lee, swarmed on the heights 



Battle of Antietam. 



169 



all round the place. 
Miles was told by 
McClel-lan to hold on, 
but he paid no heed, and 
did not try to save the 
war-goods stored at that 
place. 

On the 15th the Con- 
fed-er-ates sent such a 
storm of shot and shell 
on the fort, that Miles « 
soon showed the white t 
.flag,, and the post with ^ 
all its troops and stores 1 
fell into the hands of the t 
foe. There were 11,583 % 
men ; and the spoils were ^ 
73 great guns, 13,000 
small arms, 200 wag-ons, 
and a large lot of tents 
and camp-goods. 

Lee had no time to 
gloat o-ver his prize, for 
the next day he found 
that the Un-ion troops 
were on their way to cut 
his ar-my in two. So he 




I70 



Tl:c Battles of A inerica. 



with-drew his troops from South Moun-tain, and 
took his stand near Sharps-burg, while Jack-son by 
a swift march joined him on An-tie-tam Creek. Lee 
had 60,000 men, McClel-lan 87,000, well in hand. 




AN-TIE-TAM BRIDGE. 



On Sep-tem-ber 16, Lee's troops were on the 
heights near Sharps-burg, on the west side of An- 
tie-tam Creek, a small stream with few fords and 
four stone brids^es. On the risrht of the Un-ion line 



Battle of A7itietam. 



171 



were the corps of Hook-er and Sum-ner. In the 
fore-ground and near the An-tie-tam was Rich-ard- 
son's part of Sum-ner's corps. On a Hne with this 
was Sykes' part of Por-ter's corps. Down the stream 
was Burn-side's corps. In front of Sum-ner and 
Hook-er were long lines 
of field guns. 

Let us now see how 
Lee's troops were placed. 
From the town of Sharps- 
burg two main roads led 
out. One ran east a-cross 
the creek to Boons-bor-o', 
and one ran north on the 
west side of the creek to 
Ha-o^ers-town. It was a 
mile from Sharps-burg to 
the stream. 

Long-street was on the 
right and Hill on the left 
of the Boons-bor-o' road. 
Hood's part of Long- 
street's troops were on the left of Hill's line, and 
stretched out to the Ha-gers-town road. When 
Stone-wall Jack-son came up on the i6th he was 
placed to the left of the Ha-gers-town road, hard by 
a strip of woods. 




A. E. BURN-SIDE. 



172 The Battles of America. 

It was McClel-lan's plan to cross the bridge on his 
right, strike the Con-fed-er-ate left with the corps of 
Hook-er and Mans-field, and if need be Sum-ner's 
and Frank-lin's, and if all went well to move Burn- 
side's corps on Lee's right, on the ridge that ran to the 
south and rear of Sharps-burg. 

The first gun was fired by the Con-fed-er-ates at 
day-light of the i6th, but it was not till af-ter-noon 
that Hook-er set out with a part of his corps to strike 
the Con-fed-er-ate left, where Stone-wall Jack-son 
was in com-mand. He drove them back from their 
strong-hold, and his troops slept on their arms that 
night on the ground they had won. 

Mans-field's corps crossed the An-fie-tam late in 
the day, and at dawn of the 17th Hook-er went on 
with the fight. Both sides fought with all their might, 
but the euns on the east side of the creek drove the 
Con-fed-er-ates, with great loss, back of a line of woods. 

Hood came up to Jack-son's aid, and the Con-fed- 
er-ates swarmed out of the works and fell on Meade, 
when Hook-er called on Doub-le-day for help. Fresh 
troops came up in the face of a storm of shot, and 
those who led them were the first struck down. A 
ball hit Gen-er-al Hook-er and he had to be borne 
from the field. 

The Un-ion men bore down on the Con-fed-er-ates 
more to the left, and were just about to win the day 



Battle of Antietam. 



173 



when fresh troops came up to aid the Con-fed-er-ates 
and drove them back in turn. This game was kept 
up for some time, till at last Gen-er-al Han-cock made 
a charge that drove the Con-fed-er-ates back in a wild 
flight. Then night set in and closed the scene. 

The next day the Un- 
ion left, under Burn-side, 
fouorht hard for a bridoe 
near Sharps-burg, which 
they had been told to hold. 
Here they were met by a 
sharp fire that more than 
once drove them back. But 
at noon fresh troops came 
up to Burn-side's aid and 
drove the Con-fed-er-ates 
back as far as Sharps-burg, 
then Hill bore down on 
Burn-side's left and drove 
them back to the bridge 
once more. Hill came up 
just in time to save Lee's 
ar-my, for the Un-ion guns checked the Con-fed-er- 
ates on the east side of the creek, and they gave up 
the fight. 

McClel-lan lost 12,460 men, 2010 of whom were 
slain on the field. It was thouo^ht that Lee's loss was 




JO-SEPH HOOK-ER. 



174 The Battles of America, 

more than this. The next clay both sides were too 
worn out to fight; they had need of rest; and that 
night Lee and his troops stole a-way in the dark, 
crossed the Po-to-mac, and were for some weeks in 
camp at Win-ches-ter. McClel-lan failed to give 
chase, and as it was thought that more blood had been 
shed than there was need of — for the gain was not 
great — he lost his com-mand, and Burn-side took his 
place as Chief of the Ar-my of the Po-to-mac. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

VICKSBURG: MAY 19 TO JULY 4, 1863. 

In the year 1862, the North and South fought, by 
land and by sea, 33 times, and still the war was not 
yet near its close. In 1863 the field of battle was in 
the south-west, and Gen-er-al Grant had charge of the 
Ar-my of the Ten-nes-see. 

The South had blocked the Mis-sis-sip-pi River so 
that the North could have no use of it, and had great 
strone-holds at Vicks-buror and Port Hud-son. 

Vicks-burg stood on a high bluff, one of the group 
of Wal-nut Hills, on the east bank of the Mis-sis-sip- 
pi, at a bold bend in the stream. The North had sent 
a fleet of gun-boats up the riv-er to take the fort, but 



176 



The Battles of America. 



■^ 



they failed to do so. All sorts of plans had been 
tried to bring on its down-fall, but still the flag of the 
South waved its folds on the Vicks-burg bluff. 

Gen-er-al Grant had thought for some time that 

there was but one 
way to take the town 
of Vicks-burg, and 
that was to be-siege 
it. So he sent for 
Com-mo-dore Por- 
ter, and had a long 
talk with him, and the 
two laid their plans 
to place a ring of fire, 
as it were, a-round 
the town. Por-ter 
had a fleet of gun- 
iS-.^A-^ boats at the mouth of 
^"^ the Ya-zoo Riv-er, 
north of Vicks-burg, 
and said that he would 
brino^ them and all 
the troops that were 
with him to the aid of Gen-er-al Grant. 

In the month of A-pril Grant sent a strong land 
force down the west side of the Mis-sis-sip-pi, and 
Por-ter ran by the guns at Vicks-burg, on the night 




COM-MO-DORE POR TER. 



Siege of Vickshiirg. 



177 



of A-pril 16, 1863, with most of his fleet. On A-pril 
27 he ran by the Con-fed-er-ate guns at Grand 
Gulf, so as to guard Grant's troops who crossed the 
stream at De Shroons. 

Grant's son, Fred, a 
boy twelve years of age, 
was with hmi at this time, 
and on board one of the 
gun-boats a-sleep. His 
fa-ther left him there and 
hoped he would stay till 
Grand Gulf fell in-to 
their hands. But when 
Fred woke up, and found ^ 
that his fa-ther had gone, 
he went out to search 
for him. He heard the 
sound of the guns on 
Thomp-son's Hill, and 
found his wav to where 
his fa-ther was. He had 

no horse to ride on, and as there was no chance ta 
cook meals, the boy had to look out for him-self, and 
get a-long the best way that he could. 

Sher-man came down the west side of the Mis-sis- 
sip-pi to join Grant, McPher-son and McCler-nand 
brought up their troops and on May 8 the whole 




GEN-ER-AL McPHER-SON. 



178 



The Battles of Avierica. 



force pushed on and seized Jack-son, the chief town 
of Mis-sis-sip-pi. Then they turned to the west, and 
had a fierce fight at Cham-pi-on's Hill, in which they 
cut Johns-ton's and Pem-ber-ton's force in two, and 
put the foe to flight. 

The Un-ion van-guard gave chase, and came up 
with them at the Big Black Riv-er, and one of the Gen- 

er-als led 
the charge 
in his shirt 
sleeves. The 
foe fled from 
the west 




^^Jl»l bank, burnt 



CAVES AT VICKS-BURG. 



the bridge, 
and left the 
men and the 

guns on the east side to fall in-to the hands of the 
North. 

Then Grant swept on to the rear of Vicks-burg ; 
Sherman took his stand at Haines Bluff', on one of 
the Wal-nut Hills, while McPher-son and McCler- 
nand filled out the line that was a score of miles in 
lenoth, and stretched from the Ya-zoo to the Mis-sis- 
sip-pi. 

Por-ter, with his fleet of gun-boats, lay in the Mis- 
sis-sip-pi, north of Vicks-burg, and by May 18, all 



Siege of Vicksbiirg. 



179 



the roads that led out of 
Vicks-burg were held by 
Un-ion troops. 

For two weeks the Un- 
ion troops had been fed 
from the land through 
which they passed, but 
now they felt the want of 
bread. Theory of " Hard | 1 *''^\' 

tack! Hard tack!" was o '^ ' ' 

►13 

heard all a-long the line ; < , ,^ ,,^^ 
but in a few days, by dint \ 
of hard work the road 
was built through which 
could be brought all they o 
had need of, and the cry 
was changed to cheers. 

At two o'clock on the % 
af-ter-noon of May 19, ^ 
Grant gave the sign to 
storm the fort, and Sher- 
man's corps took the lead. 
McPher-son was at his 
left, on both sides of 
the Jack-son road, and 
McCler-nand at his left 
and as far out to War- 




i8o .The Battles of America. 

ren-ton as his line would reach. There was a hard 
fight, and close work, but the Un-ion troops had to 
fall back. 

Grant sent word to Por-ter to lend his aid, and all 
night of the 21st and 22d a storm of shot and shell 
poured in-to Vicks-burg. At ten o'clock the next day 
Grant's whole line moved on the works. At two 
points on the right they were swept back. McCler- 
nand on the left sent word that he held two forts. 
Then a charge was made by Sher-man's corps, and 
McPher-son brought his men up. But none of them 
could keep what they had won. Por-ter joined in the 
fray, but spent his shot for naught, and as soon as it 
was dark Grant drew off his troops, and then set in 
the siege of Vicks-burg. 

The first thing to do was to build earth-works and 
to screen the marks-men from the guns of the foe. 
To do this sand-bags were placed on the tops of the 
walls, and a space left here and there as loop-holes 
for the guns. On top of these, logs were put, so that 
the men could walk at their ease when they had a 
chance to rest, and feel no fear that the Con-fed-er-ate 
marks-men would aim at their heads. 

They had no mor-tars with them to throw bomb- 
shells, so they took logs of tough w^ood, bored them 
out for six or twelve pound shells, and bound them 
with strong i-ron bands. These were made use of, 



Ibl 



Siege Of Vicksburg. 

and shells were thrown from them in-to the Con-fed- 
er-ate pits or trench-es. 

The troops went to work with a will, and the black 
men who had come in-to the lines were hired to help 



--=■ 


=-:L 


--" 


— ---^ 






~- 


1 








k 




1; 







A RAIL-ROAD BAT-TER-Y. 



them dig and build. Grant felt that now he had 
strength to meet the foe, and he drew his lines clo-ser 
and clo-ser round Vicks-burg. 

On June 22 he heard that Johns-ton had crossed 



1 82 The Battles of America. 

the Big Black River to raise the siege and set Pem- 
ber-ton free. This news put Grant in a great strait, 
as he was be-tween two fires. 

At three points on the Jack-son road a mine was 
dug that led up to the Con-fed-er-ate earth-works, 
and on June 25 the mine was charged. The foe had 
dug on their side in hopes to strike the Un-ion 
mine, but failed to do so. At three o'clock in the 
af-ter-noon the fuse was lit and the mine blew up with 
a great noise. The top of the hill was blown off, and 
a hole left scarce wide e-nough for troops to march 
through. 

A few of the Con-fed-er-ates were at work in the 
mines they had dug on their side to find and spoil 
those that the Boys in Blue had made, and these were 
thrown in the air, and some of them came down on the 
wrong side. One of these was a black man, who 
was more scared than hurt. Some one asked him 
how high he had gone up. " Dun-no, mas-sa," said 
he, "but I t'ink 'bout tree mile." 

No good was done by these mines, and Grant made 
up his mind that no more should be dug. 

In the mean-time, what sort of life did those lead 
who were shut up in Vicks-burg? The folks there 
had dug caves in the sand-hills on which the town 
stands, and here they spent their days and nights, and 
here some babes were born. 



Sieo-e of Vicksbarsc. 



^«3. 



Food grew scarce, and when beef could not be had 
they ate mule meat, and were glad to get it. Their 
sole hope was that Johns-ton would come up from 
Jack-son with a large force and drive the Un-ion 
troops a-way. 

But June wore on, and Grant drew in his lines clo- 
ser and clo-ser. 

Johns-ton tried to help Pem-ber-ton, but could not, 
and Pem-ber-ton lost hope. 
For six weeks or more he had 
kept up a brave show, and had 
done all that he could to save 
the strong-hold from the clutch 
of Un-ion men. But it was no 
use. The end had come; and 
at ten o'clock on the morn of Ju- 
ly 3 white flags were seen on 
the Con-fed-er-ate works. The 
sight of them sent a thrill of joy through all the lines. 

Soon two men came up with a flag of truce and a 
note for Grant, which asked for a stay of blood-shed 
for a few hours, and a chance to make terms for the 
sur-ren-der of Vicks-burg. Grant sent back word 
that his terms were a full and free sur-ren-der of the 
town, its forts, and all the troops, and said that if Pem- 
ber-ton chose he would meet him in front of McPher- 
son's corps at three o'clock that af-ter-noon. 




GEN-ER-AL J. C. PEM-BER-TON. 



1 84 



The Battles of America. 



At three o'clock Pem-ber-ton with three of-fi-cers, 
and Grant with three of his staff, met on a hill-side 
near the Con-fed-er-ate lines. Pem-ber-ton did not 
like the terms Grant made at all, and left the place 
in quite a huff 

Grant made a slight change in his terms to please 
Pem-ber-ton, and sent the note to him at ten o'clock 




IN-TER-VIEW BE-TWEEN GEN-ER-ALS GRANT AND PEM-BER-TON. 

that niorht. This brouQrht word from Pem-ber-ton 
that he would march out at ten o'clock a.m. on the 
Fourth of Ju-ly. 

While the siege was kept up the Yan-kees had been 
heard to boast that they would dine in Vicks-burg on 
the Fourth of Ju-ly. Some-times the lines were so 
close that the "Yanks" and "John-nies" — as the 



Battle of Getty sbzirg. 185 

Con-fecl-er-ates were called — could talk back and 
forth. John-ny would sing out, "Well, Yank, when 
are you coming to town?" and the Yank would 
say, "We'll dine there on Fourth of Ju-ly." 

The news-pa-pers took this up and made great sport 
of it, but the boast came true, and the Fourth of Ju- 
ly, 1863, was a bright day for the North; for the sun 
shone on the Stars and Stripes, there were signs that 
the right would win, and that the long, sad war was 
near its close. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

GETTYSBURG: JULY i TO 4, 1863. 

For some time the cry of the Un-ion troops had 
been " On to Rich-mond!" and Lee had kept a large 
force to guard the chief town on the "sa-crecl soil." 
But in the Spring of 1863 he made up his mind to 
move on Phil-a-del-phi-a, and by the 8th of June 
Long-street's and Ew-ell's corps had joined Stu-art's 
horse-men at Cul-pep-er. 

As soon as Gen-er-al Hook-er found out that Lee 
was on the march, and there were but few troops at 
Rich-mond, his plan was to move on that place and 
eet at the rear of the Con-fed-er-ates. But to do this 



i86 



The Battles of America. 



he would need to take troops from Wash-ing-ton, 
and as this was not thoug^ht to be a safe move nor a 
wise plan, Gen-er-al Hook-er was called from his 
high place, and on June 28 Gen-er-al George G. 

Meade was made chief 
of the Ar-my of the Po- 
to-mac. 

Up to this time the 
State of Penn-syl-va- 
ni-a had sent out but 
few troops when the 
call was made for ''300,- 
000 more," but now 
that the war was at her 
door she was up in 
arms. 

When Lee saw this, 
and heard that the Un- 
^P' ion troops were on his 
flank and rear, he gave 
up his scheme and 
bade his men fall back. 
On the same day Stu-art's horse-men crossed the Po- 
to-mac and pushed on to Car-lisle, where they fell in 
with Kil-pat-rick and Cus-ter with their brave horse- 
men, and had a hard fight. They then kept at the 
rear of Ew-ell in his march to Get-tys-burg. Long- 




GEN-ER-AL STU-ART. 



Battle of Gettysburg^. 



187 



street was to cross the South Moun-tain range, and 
press on through Get-tys-burg to Bal-ti-more to keep 
Meade at bay. 

Lee hoped to crush Meade, and then march on to 
Wash-ing-ton, or, in 
case he failed, to make 
it safe for him to fall 
back in-to Vir-gin-ia. 

Mean-while Meade 
brought up his troops 
in such a way as to 
force Lee to fight ere 
he could cross the Sus- 
que-han-na, and on 
the 29th he set out 
with Bu-ford and his 
horse-men at the left, 
Greo^o^ at the rio^ht, and 
Kil-pat-rick in front. 

He learned that 
night that Lee was 
on the way to Get- 
tys-burg, and he left for that place the next day, and 
his troops were spread out to the east and south of 
the town. 

From Get-tys-burg good roads led to all large 
points be-tween the Sus-que-han-na and the Po-to- 




GEORGE G. MEADE. 



1 88 The Battles of America. 

mac. West of the town and half a mile from it there 
is a hio^h rido^e on which stands the " Lu-ther-an Sem- 
i-na-ry." On this ridge there is a fine growth of trees 
its whole length, but at the north end, a mile and a 
half out, is a high knoll, called Oak Hill, which is 
quite bare. on the south side. From this ridge the 
ground slopes to the west, and then swells up in-to 
a ridge on top of which is McPher-son's farm. West 
of McPher-son's ridge, a small stream — or run — 
flows in-to Marsh Creek. North of the town the 
land is flat and there is a clear out-look. 

On the south is a ridge of bold high grounds, at 
the west end of which is Cem-e-ter-y Hill, and at the 
east Gulp's Hill. Gulp's Hill is steep on the east side, 
with a thick growth of woods, and at its base flows 
Rock Greek. 

On the morn of July i, Bu-ford, with 6000 horse- 
men met the van of Lee's army, led by Gen-er-al 
Heth, not far from Sem-i-na-ry Ridge, where a sharp 
fight took place. Rey-nolds, who led the left wing of 
Meade's troops, was on his way from Marsh Greek, 
with How-ard's corps at his rear, and Sick-les and 
Slo-cum with-in call. 

The sound of fire-arms made him add speed to his 
pace, and he made haste to aid Bu-ford, who held the 
Gon-fecl-er-ates in check. Rey-nolds placed some of 
his troops on the Gham-bers-burg road; the Gon-fed- 



Battle of Gettysburg. 



189 



er-ates fired, the Un-ion troops fired back, and then 
the fight at Get-tys-burg was be-gun. 

Some of those in blue charged in-to a wood in the 
rear of the Sem-i-na-ry to fall on Hill's right, which 
was led by Gen-er-al Ar-cher. But they were forced 
back. Then more troops came up, led by Rey-nolds 
him-self, struck Ar-cher's flank, and seized him and 
a large force of his men. But . 
when the charge was made, 
a shot from a Con-fed-er-ate 
marks-man struck Rey-nolds in 
the neck, and he fell dead on 
the field. 

Gen-er-al Doub-le-day took 
his place, and at noon the whole 
of the First Corps was well 
placed on Sem-i-na-ry Ridge, 
and the rest of Hill's corps was 
close at hand. 

Mean-while the van of Hill's 
corps took its stand on a ridge north of the town, and 
made threats on the line held by Gen-er-al Cut-ler. 
Doub-le-day sent aid to Cut-ler, and a sharp fight 
took place 'twixt the Blue and the Gray, and three 
North Car-o-li-na reg-i-ments were seized. 

It was past noon when How-ard with his corps 
came on the field of strife, and took the chief com- 




WIN-FIELD SCOTT HAN-COCK. 



190 The Battles of America. 

mand of all the troops. To meet an attack from the 
north and west How-ard stretched out his lines to the 
length of three miles, with Gulp's Hill on the right. 
Round Top on the left, and Cem-e-ter-y Hill in the 
cen-tre. At three o'clock in the af-ter-noon the Con- 
fed-er-ates, who were in great force, swept down on 
the Un-ion troops, and there was a fierce fight and 
great loss on both sides. The Blue line was forced 
back, and the day was lost. 

Gen-er-al Meade was at Ta-ney-town — 13 miles 
a-way — when he heard of the death of Rey-nolds, 
and he at once bade Gen-er-al Han-cock leave his 
corps with Gib-bons and take the chief com-mand 
at Get-tys-burg. He came up just as the Blue line 
broke and was on a wild run for Cem-e-ter-y HilL 
Sick-les and Slo-cum were there, and Han-cock told 
Meade that How-ard had his men well placed. 

Then Han-cock went back to his own corps and 
took his stand a mile and a half in the rear of Cem-e- 
ter-y Hill. 

Meade now brought his troops in a mass to Get- 
tys-burg, and roused them at one o'clock on the morn- 
ing of Ju-ly 2, when all but two corps were in line. 
Lee too brought up his troops as fast as he could, and 
took his stand on Sem-i-na-ry Ridge. 

Thus the Blue and the Gray stood face to face for 
some hours, as if each one were loath to strike the 



19- The Battles of America. 

first blow. Sick-les, on the left, 'twixt Cem-e-ter-y 
Hill and Round Top, had pushed his corps quite near 
the Con-fed-er-ate line, and Lee made an at-tack on 
him with Long-street's corps. There was a fierce 
fight, in which the Un-ion troops won. 

While yet the strife was at its height, Gen-er-al 
Craw-ford, with six reg-i-ments of Penn-syl-va-ni-a 
troops, swept down the north-west side of Round 
Top, and with loud shouts drove the Con-fed-er-ates 
through the woods to the Em-mits-burg road, and 
took 300 of them pris-on-ers. 

Gen-er-al Humph-rey was then well to the front, 
with his right on the Em-mits-burg road, when Hill 
came up with a strong force, fell on him, and drove him 
back with a loss of half his men and three guns. 

In this on-set Sick-les lost a leg, and Bir-ney took 
com-mand of the corps. 

At sun-set Han-cock made a charge with fresh 
troops, drove back the Con-fed-er-ates, and took back 
four of the guns that had been lost by the Un-ion 
troops. The fight on the left came to an end at dusk. 

Gen-er-al Slo-cum was chief on the ri^ht of the Blue 
Ime, and at the time Long-street made his at-tack on 
the left, Ew-ell had struck out on the rio^ht. It was 
a fierce fight. Up the north slopes of Cem-e-ter-y 
Hill the Con-fed-er-ates pressed, in the face of a red 
hot fire of shot and shell, close up to the mouths of 



Battle of Gettysburg. 



193 



the guns. Part of Ew-ell's corps tried to turn the 
Un-ion right by a charge on its weak part at Gulp's 
Hill. But they failed, and the Con-fed-er-ates were 
held in check; but not till ten o'clock at night did the 
fight end, and then 40,000 men in Blue and Gray were 
left dead on the field. 

Lee made up his mind 
to aim his chief blow at 
Han-cock's post on Gem- 
e-ter-y Hill, and at one 
o'clock on the af-ter-noon 
of July 3, 115 of his large 
guns poured their fire on 
this point. They were met 
by as fierce a fire from the 
Un-ion guns, and for two 
hours the earth a-round 
shook with a roar that could 
be heard for miles and miles. 

Then the Gon-fed-er-ate 
troops, in a line three miles 
long, swept a-cross the 

plain. Pick-ett led the van, and, 15,000 strong, made 
a wild charge up Gem-e-ter-y Hill. On they came 
with a rush ! The can-nons had ceased to roar, and 
the roll of mus-kets was now heard ! Shot and shell 
cut their way through the Gon-fed-er-ate ranks. 




GEORGE E. PICK-ETT. 



194 The Battles of America, 

Han-cock was struck with a ball and forced to yield 
his place to Gib-bons. 

Pick-ett pushed on, while the troops of Hayes and 
Gib-bons poured a rain of shot in their midst. Part 
of the Con-fed-er-ate line gave way, and 2000 men 
and 15 flags fell in-to Un-ion hands. 

Still Pick-ett moved on, scaled Cem-e-ter-y Hill, 
burst through Han-cock's line, drove back part of 
Webb's force, and raised the Con-fed-er-ate flag on 
a stone wall. But this was as far as he could go. 
Such a storm of shot rained down on Pick-ett's troops 
that they gave way at last, and soon 2500 men and 
twelve flags were in the hands of the Un-ion troops, 
and a host of the brave men in gray lay dead on the 
field. Wil-cox came up to Pick-ett's aid, but was 
swept back by the fire of the Ver-mont troops. 

Mean-while Craw-ford came up on Lee's right flank 
from near Lit-tle Round Top. The Gray line broke 
and fled, and in this raid the whole ground lost by 
the Blue was won back, with 260 men, 7000 small 
arms, a can-non, and a lot of Un-ion men who had 
been left a whole day with none to care for their 
wounds. Thus, at near sun-set, Judy 3, 1863, the 
fight at Get-tys-burg came to an end. That night 
and all the next day Lee's ar-my staid on Sem-i-na-ry 
Ridge, and on Sun-day morn-ing, Ju-ly 5, they were 
on their way back to Rich-mond. 



Battle of Lookout Mountain. 195 

Lee had said, when he went out, '' I will whip them, 
or they will whip me;" and it was with a sad heart he 
left the field that he had hoped to win. His loss was 
not made known, but was thought to be at least 30,000. 

Vicks-burg and Get-tys-burg were a great gain to 
the North, and worth all that they cost. It was felt 
that the war was near its close, and smiles of hope 
shone through the tears that filled the eyes of those 
who mourned their dead. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN : NOVEMBER 24, 1863. 

In June, 1863, Gen-er-al Rose-crans was in com- 
mand of the Ar-my of the Cum-ber-land, and had his 
post at Mur-frees-bor-o, Ten-nes-see, where he held 
the Con-fed-er-ate Gen-er-al Brago^ in check. 

The siege of Vicks-burg had drawn from Bragg's 
troops — who had gone to aid Johns-ton and Pem- 
ber-ton — and had Rose-crans moved at that time he 
would have been sure to win the day. But he did 
not move till late in June, when he drove Bragg south 
of the Ten-nes-see Riv-er and through and be-yond 
Chat-ta-noo-ga. 

In the mean-time Bragg's troops came back to him, 
and with fresh strength he bore down on Rose-crans, 



196 



The Battles of America. 



SO that he had to fall back in turn. He got his troops 
well in hand at Chick-a-mau-ga, some miles south- 
east of Chat-ta-noo-ga, and there the Blue and the 
Gray met on Sep-tem-ber 19. 

Chat-ta-noo-ga is on the south bank of the Ten- 

nes-see, where that riv-er 
runs to the west. It is at 
the north end of a low 
strip of land five or six 
miles in width, through 
which runs Chat-ta-noo- 
ga Creek. To the east is 
a high hill, called Mis- 
sion-a-ry Ridge. On the 
west is Look-out Moun- 
tain, which at its north end 
is a steep cliff up to quite 
a height, then slopes off 
in-to farm lands. 

At Chick - a - mau - ga 
Creek Rose-crans drew up 
his men, 55,000 strong. 
He did not know that Bragg's force had been swelled 
by fresh troops till he had full 70,000, or he had been 
less bold. The Con-fed-er-ate right was in charge of 
Gen-er-al Polk, and the left by Gen-er-al Hood till 
Long-street should come. 




W. S. ROSE-CRANS. 



Battle of Lookout Mountain. 



197 



Gen-er-al George H. Thom-as, who was on the left 
of the Un-ion line, by a move to seize some of the 
Con-fed-er-ates, brought on the fight at ten o'clock in 
the mornino^. It racked with fierce heat, and at first 
the Blue won ; then the Gray would charge and drive 
them back, and so each side 
took its turn. Then there 
was a lull, but at five o'clock 
the Grays took a fresh start 
and pressed hard on the 
Blue line, when Ha-zen, 
who was in charge of what 
is called a "park" — which 
means a score of great guns 
— brought them to bear on 
the Con-fed-er-ates at short 
range, and the day was 
saved on the left. 

Niorht closed the fiorht. 
The next day a dense fog 
set in, which gave Thom-as 
a chance to put up breast- 
works of logs, rails, and earth. The Con-fed-er-ates 
souorht to turn the left flank, but Thom-as and his 
brave men stood like a wall in their way. A gap was 
in the Blue line, when Hood with Stew-art charged 
with orreat force, and struck so hard that the right 




BRAX-TON BRAGG, 



198 The Battles of America. 

wing gave way and fled to-ward Chat-ta-noo-ga. 
The tide bore with it the troops led by Rose-crans, 
Crit-ten-den, and McCook, but Thom-as and his 
corps stood their ground for some time. Gen-er-al 
Gran-ger came up with fresh troops, and then they 
formed a new line, fought their way to the top of a 
hill, turned their guns on the foe, and drove them 
down the south slope of the ridge with great loss. 
The Con-fed-er-ates fought hard, but soon the Un- 
ion troops held both the ridge and the gorge. But 
this state of things did not last long. The Con-fed- 
er-ates, led by Long-street, swarmed at the foot of the 
ridge on which stood Thom-as and a small part of 
the Ar-my of the Cum-ber-land. There seemed no 
hope for them, but Thom-as stood like a rock, and 
kept the Con-fed-er-ates at bay till the sun went down, 
when he drew off his troops to Ross-ville, for pow- 
der and shot were well nigh gone. 

Gen-er-al Gar-field, Rose-crans' chief of staff, came 
up with word that Thom-as w^as to take charge of the 
whole Un-ion force, and that was the first that Thom-as 
knew of the fate of the right of the line. 

Much blood was shed in this fight, and the loss 
was great on both sides, but the Con-fed-er-ates won 
the day. 

On the night of the 20th the whole Un-ion force 
made its way to Chat-ta-noo-ga, while Bragg took his 



Battle of Lookout Mountain. 



199 



stand on Mis-slon-a-ry Ridge and Look-out Moun- 
tain. Bragg held all the roads near the place, and all 
the food for Rose-crans and his men had to be hauled 
three-score miles. Bread and meat were scarce, and 
their shoes and clothes well worn. They had burnt 
up all the wood they could 
lay hands on, and dug up 
the stumps of the trees. 
As there were no teams 
to draw the big logs, they 
made them in-to rafts and 
let them float down the 
stream to the south side, 
where they could be hauled 
on shore with poles, and 
borne by the men to their 
camps. 

In Oc-to-ber word was 
sent from Wash-ing-ton 
to Grant of the strait that 
Rose-crans was in, and 
the fear there was that he might fall back and let his 
whole force be seized by the Con-fed-er-ates. 

Grant sent word to Thom-as by the wire that he 
must hold Chat-ta-noo-ga, and told him at the same 
time that he would be at the front as soon as he could 
get there. 




'^ry- 



GEORGE H. THOM-AS. 



200 The Battles of America. 

Thom-as sent word back, ''We will hold the town 
till we starve." 

In a day or two Grant and his staff were at the 
front, Thom-as was made chief m place of Rose-crans, 
and the two went to work to get clothes and food for 
the men, and to bring up their strength so that they 
could stand the siege. 

On No - vem - ber 4, Long - street set out with 
20,000 troops, 5000 of whom were horse-men, to march 
on Burn-side, who was at Knox-ville. Sher-man 
was on his way to join Grant, who urged him to make 
haste. 

Long-street had a rail-road as far as Lou-don, 
where he stayed for nine days. Sher-man reached 
Chat-to-noo-ga Oc-to-ber 14. The bad roads had 
made his march a slow one. 

Grant's plan was for Sher-man to move on the right 
flank of the foe, cross the South Chick-a-mau-ga, and 
hold the rail-road in Bragg's rear. Hook-er was to 
do the same on the right, while Thom-as was to push 
his way from the cen-tre and strike the foe when 
most of them would be in the fights on the two flanks. 

On the night of No-vem-ber 23, Sher-man set out 
to cross the Ten-nes-see at Brown's Fer-ry, and to 
place his troops back of the foot-hills, out of sight of 
the foe on Mis-sion-a-ry Ridge. 

At two o'clock on the morn of No-vem-ber 24, 



Battle of Lookout Mountazn. 



20I 



Giles A. Smith pushed out from the North Chick-a- 

mau-ga with ii6 boats filled with 30 brave men well 

armed. These boats slipped down the stream with 

the tide and came to land near che mouth of the 

South Chick - a - 

mau - ga, when a 

rush was made on 

the guard known to 

be at that point. 

The men in gray 

were off guard and 

a score of them were 

seized. By noon 

the bridge of boats 

was built, and by 

half past three all 

the troops and the 

guns were on the 

south bank of the 

Ten-nes-see. 

How-ard crossed 
at Cit-i-co Creek, 
to join Sher-man. 

There had been a fine rain all day, and the clouds 
hung so low that the tops of the hills were lost to view. 
But ere lone the foe turned their oruns on Sher-man's 
men and did their best to drive them a-way. A ball 




GEN-ER-AL LONG-STREET. 



202 The Battles of America. 

struck Gen-er-al Giles A. Smith and he was borne 
from the field. 

Hook-er was on the low ground at the west in front 
of Look-out Moun-tain, which was rough and steep 
and full of chasms on that side. He moved Gea-ry's 
men and some of Cruft's up Look-out Creek, where 
they were to cross. The rest of Cruft's troops were 
to seize the bridge, when Os-ter-haus was to move 
up and cross it. 

The fog was so great that Gea-ry's move was not 
seen, and he pushed his way up the hill in the face of 
the guns on the top. The troops scaled the heights, 
cut their way through the trees that had been hewn 
down, drove the marks-men from their pits, and swept 
the Con-fed-er-ates up to the top of the ridge. 

The fight in the clouds was a fierce one. In the 
af-ter-noon the foe were hard pushed and at last gave 
way and fled pell-mell down the steep chasms and 
slopes to the smooth plain at the base. 

Grant and Thom-as were on a knoll, called Or- 
chard Knoll, where they were in full view of the fight, 
at least what could be seen of it. 

The fog was so dense that it hid Hook-er's men 
from sight for a while. Then a cloud would lift and 
^how where they were. But the roar of the big guns 
and the roll of the small ones could be heard all the time. 

At four o'clock Hook-er sent word to Grant that 



Battle of Lookout Mountain. 203 

he could not be moved from his strong-hold ; and 
Sher-man was well fixed at the end of Mis-sion-a-ry 
Ridore. 

At mid-niorht all was still. Sher-man was to move 
on the foe at day-light the next day, and Hook-er was 
to move at the same hour. 

The 25th was clear and bright, and the whole field 
was in full view from the top of Or-chard Knob. 

Sher-man was out as soon as he could see, and by 
sun-rise had his troops to move on the main ridge, 
which was cut off from the point he had gained by a 
low pass, through which ran a road, and near which 
was a rail-road tun-nel. 

The foe were strong at this point, and all their guns 
were brought to bear on Sher-man and his men. 
They were in great need of help, and Thom-as sent 
troops to their aid. Soon loud cheers were heard as 
Sher-i-dan and Wood charged up the ridge and put 
the foe to flight, and those in front of Sher-man like- 
wise took to their heels. 

The foe had left Look-out Moun-tain on the night 
of the 24th, burned the bridge that spanned Chat-ta- 
noo-ga Creek, and cut up the roads as much as they 
could. It took Hook-er four hours to build the bridge 
and cross the creek, by which time the Con-fed-er- 
ates were a long way off. But Hook-er gave chase, 
and at Ross-ville came on a part of the foe which soon 



204 The Battles of America. 

fell back, and were caught by Un-ion troops at the 
rear. 

Chat-ta-noo-ga was now safe. Bragg had lost the 
strong-hold that was in his grasp, and which was of 
so much worth to the South. Burn-side was safe at 
Knox-ville, and had no fear of Long-street, and Grant 
had done the best that he could for the cause he held 
dear. 



CHAPTER XIX.. 

THE WILDERNESS: MAY 5 AND 6, 1864. 

At the dead of night on May 3, 1864, the Ar-my 
of the Po-to-mac, full 100,000 strong, set out on its 
march to Rich-mond. The men were strong, fresh, 
and full of hope. On the right were War-ren and 
Sedg-wlck's corps; on the left Han-cock's. There 
were horse-men, and oruns, and a lono^ train of wae- 
ons — 4000 in all — and the roads were poor, and 
there were not a few streams to cross. 

Burn-side's Ninth Corps had been left at War-ren- 
ton for a while, lest Lee should move on Wash-ing- 
ton, but by sun-down on May 5 all the Un-ion troops 
were on the south side of the Rap-i-dan. Then the 



Battle of the Wilderness. 



205 



whole force pushed on to the great belt of woods 
known as the Wil-der-ness. 

Lee was in force at Mine Run, and when he found 
out this move he marched out most all of his men to 
strike the flanks of the Un-ion troops on their march. 

Hill and Long-street 
were to move to the right, 
by the Orange Plank Road. 
Ew-ell, who was near by, 
took his post that night four 
miles east of Mine Run. 

Grant bade Meade move 
his men on the morn-ing 
of the 5th. War-ren was 
to move to Par-ker's store, 
and Wil-son's horse-men 
to Craio^'s church. Sedo^- 
wick closed in on War-ren's 
right, while Han-cock went 
to the south-west to join 
War-ren's left at Sha-dy 
Grove Church. At six o'clock War-ren sent word 
back that he saw the foe, and he was told to halt and 
get in shape to meet him. Wright, of Sedg-wick's 
corps, was sent to join on to War-ren's right, while 
Get-ty was to move by War-ren's rear and get on 
his left. 




RICH-ARD S. EW-ELL. 



2o6 The Battles of America. 

Soon the fight took place. Ew-ell was pushed 
back, but the Un-ion troops could do no more than 
hold their ground. Han-cock and Hill fought till 
night set in, and the gain was slight for Blue or Gray. 

Grant was sure that Lee was near in full force, and 
had no mind to let him strike the first blow the next 
day. So he told Han-cock to move on the foe at five 
o'clock in the morn-ing. Wads-worth was to move 
at the same time and strike Hill's left; while Burn- 
side was to get in 'twixt War-ren and Wads-worth, 
and strike as soon as he had a chance to do so. 

Lee brought up Long-street with 12,000 men to aid 
Hill, and the fight was a fierce one. It was kept up 
for an hour, at the end of which time the Con-fed-er- 
ates turned and fled like a wild mob, and ran for a 
mile and a half ere they came to a stop. 

On the morn of the 6th, Sher-i-dan was sent to join 
with Han-cock's left and at-tack the Con-fed-er-ate. 
horse-men who sought to get on the left and rear of 
the Un-ion troops. He met them at two points, and 
drove them back. The brave Gen-er-al Wads-worth 
met with his death-wound, and fell in-to the hands of 
the foe. 

Long-street was shot and had to leave the field, 
and it was some weeks ere he could take charge of 
his troops. His loss was a great one to Lee, who 
had need of all his best men. 



Battle of Atlanta. 207 

In the af-ter-noon Lee took the field him-self, and 
threw the whole corps of Long-street and Hill on 
Han-cock, who had a large force to aid him and a 
strong line of breast-works. Han-cock stood firm 
till the woods were set on fire by the shells, and the 
flames seized the logs and brush of the breast- works, 
and ran on the ground through the net- work of vines. 

The wind blew the heat and smoke in-to the fa-ces 
of the men, and drove them from their posts, when the 
Con-fed-er-ates at once dashed in and placed their 
flags on the walls of the breast- works. 

They were soon pushed out, and as night came on 
Lee fell back, and the Wil-der-ness fight was at an end. 

The loss on both sides was great, and the gain was 
small, but for the hope it gave that the war was near 
its close, and the North would win at last. 



CHAPTER XX. 

ATLANTA: JULY 28, 1864. 

In the first part of Ju-ly, 1864, Sher-man had 
forced Johns-ton to take his stand at At-lan-ta with 
his left on the Chat-ta-hoo-chee and his right on 
Peach Tree Creek. 



2o8 The Battles of America. 

Sher-man was then eight miles from the town. On 
the 17th Thom-as crossed the Chat-ta-hoo-chee close 
to Scho-field's rio^ht. McPher-son moved a-rainst 
the rail-way east of De-ca-tur, and the next day tore 
up four miles of the track. Scho-field seized De-ca- 
tur, and at the same time, on the 19th, Thom-as crossed 
Peach Tree Creek in the face of the Con-fed-er-ate 
earth-works, and fought his way step by step. 

At this date Gen-er-al Rous-seau, who had swept 
through Al-a-bam-a and Geor-gia, joined Sher-man 
with 2000 horse-men, and on the 20th the Un-ion 
troops had all closed in and shaped their course to 
At-lan-ta. On the af-ter-noon of that day — at four 
o'clock — Hood set out from At-lan-ta and struck 
Hook-er's corps with great strength, but was forced 
back to his strong-holds, with a loss of at least 5000 
men, 500 of whom were left dead on the field. Sher- 
man's loss was 1500. 

The next morn, the 21st, the Con-fed-er-ates had 
left their post on the south side of Peach Tree Creek, 
and Sher-man thought they were about to leave At- 
lan-ta. So he pressed on to-ward the town, and at a 
point two miles from it was met by a strong line of 
earth-works, back of which swarmed a Con-fed-er- 
ate host. 

The next day McPher-son moved from De-ca-tur 
to break this strong line, with Lo-gan's corps in the 







^\r^\\A "■ 



2IO 



The Battles of A in erica. 



cen-tre, Dodg-e's on his right, and Blair's on his left. 
Hood left a force of troops in front of Sher-man to 
hold them, and by a night march to the Hank and 
rear of the Un-ion troops struck them a sharp and 
not-looked-for blow. 

At the. same time Har-dee came up, and his men 

poured through a gap that 
had been made 'twixt Blair 
and Dodge. McPher-son 
had just called out to his 
men to fill that gap, when 
he was struck and killed by 
a marks-man shot. Lo-gan 
then took charge of the Ar- 
my of the Ten-nes-see, and 
the fierce war-fare raged for 
hours and hours. Late in 
the day there was a brief 
lull. Then a Con-fed-er- 
ate charge broke Lo-gan's 
line, and the troops fell back 
in wild haste, and let some of their large guns fall in the 
hands of the foe. Sher-man sent more troops to his 
aid, so that Lo-gan soon took back all that he had 
lost. The Con-fed-er-ates gave way, and fell back to 
their strong-holds. The loss on both sides was great. 
Then raids were made by the Blue and the Gray, 




GEN-ER-AL HOOD. 



Battle of Atlanta. 



2ir 



now on the right flank and now on the left, and for a 
whole week the fight was kept up, and much blood 
was shed. 

Sher-man's long-range guns caused large fires in 
At-lan-ta, which was now in a state of siege. Hood 
drew off his troops, and on 
Sep-tem-ber 2, 1864, the 
Un-ion troops marched in- 
to At-lan-ta, and the Stars 
and Stripes flung out its 
folds o-ver the court-house. 

A bold plan now formed 
it-self in the mind of Gen- 
er-al Sher-man. This 
was to march from At-lan- 
ta to the sea, tear up all the 
rail-roads, and cut off the 
Con-fed-er-ates from their 
grain fields and their war 
stores ; in fact, to starve 
them out. 

The rail-ways in and near At-lan-ta were first torn 
up. The wood-work was laid in piles, and a great 
bon-fire made of it, on which the rails were thrown. 
The heat would soon twist the rails out of shape so 
they could not be used at all, and no cars, of course, 
could come that way. 




WILL-IAM J. HAR-DEE. 



212 The Battles of America. 

On the morn-ing of No-vem-ber 14, the whole of 
At-lan-ta was in flames, and while the fire raged, the 
bands played, and Sher-man and his men took up the 
line of march to the tune of *' John Brown." 

As soon as it was found out what Sher-man meant 
to do, the whole South was up in arms. Beau-re- 
gard was sent from the Ap-po-mat-tox to the Sa- 
van-nah to stop his march. 

The cry all through the South was, "To arms! to 
arms ! Burn what you can-not take a-way, and block 
up all roads on your route. Strike the foe in front, 
flank, and rear, by night and by day. Let him have 
no rest." Not a few lost faith in Jeff. Da-vis. They 
said it was "the rich man's war, and the poor man's 
fight," and they paid no heed to the rules laid down 
for them at Rich-mond. 

Sher-man kept on his march, and his troops fed 
them-selves from the farms and fields through which 
they went. At Gris-wolds-ville there was a sharp 
fight, on No-vem-ber 22, with some of Har-dee's 
troops sent up from Sa-van-nah, but they were put to 
flight with a loss of 2500 men. 

While at work on a bridge of boats, on the O-co- 
nee, Wheel-er came up with his horse-men and had 
a brush — that is, a short fight — with Kil-pat-rick, 
who drove them back. 

On the 30th Sher-man's whole force had passed the 



Battle of Atlanta. 213 

O-gee-chee, and as the chief rail- ways in Geor-gia were 
all torn up, the time had come for him to seize the 
State. 

Then he set out for the sea, through swamps and 
sands, and though now and then he had a fight on the 
way, the Con-fed-er-ates were not seen in force till he 
was near Sa-van-nah. All the roads that led to that 
place — the chief town in the State — were blocked 
with earth-works, guns, and trees that had been cut 
down. These were turned, and by De-cem-ber lo the 
Con-fed-er-ates were shut in Sa-van-nah, with the At- 
lan-tic on one side, and no way to get out by land. 

But Fort Mc Al-lis-ter, at the mouth of the O-gee- 
chee, was a bar to Sher-man's march to the sea, where 
lay the Un-ion fleet. It was a strong fort, and had 
in it at least 200 men. 

Gen-er-al Ha-zen was told to seize it, and on 
De-cem-ber 13 he crossed the O-gee-chee at King's 
Bridge, and at one o'clock was in front of the fort. 
Sher-man and How-ard went to a high place, and each, 
with a field-glass in hand, kept a close watch on all 
that was done at the front. 

Ha-zen's bu-gles blew, and the men charged up the 
walls of the fort, and fought hand-to-hand with the foe, 
who sought to drive them back. But on and on 
went the bold men in Blue, and soon the fort and all 
it held were in their hands. As soon as Sher-man 



214 1^^^^ Battles of America. 

and How-ard saw the Stars and Stripes float from 
Fort McAl-Hs-ter, they took a small boat for that 
point, and gave no thought to the bomb-shells and 
such things that were strewn on the bed of the stream. 

Sher-man called on Har-dee to yield up his sword 
and to lay down his arms. But Har-dee would not, 
and on the dark night of De-cem-ber 20, when a fierce 
storm raged, he stole out of Sa-van-nah with 15,000 
men and made his way to Charles-ton. 

The Un-ion troops marched in-to Sa-van-nah 
De-cem-ber 22, 1864, and this was the end of Sher- 
man's March to the Sea, which won him great fame, 
and which has been told so well in prose and in song 
that old and young ought to know it by heart. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

WITH SHERIDAN. 

At the close of the Wil-der-ness fight Sher-i-dan 
was sent out to tear up all the rail-roads that led in or 
out of Rich-mond, so that Lee and his force would 
be shut up in that town. 

This was the first of the great raids which he led, 
and which are so linked with the name and fame of 
*'Lit-tle Phil." 



With Sheridan. 



215 



He pushed on with a dash, fought in the same way, 
and did so much good for the cause that he was placed 
at the head of a large force of troops. This was on 
Au-gust 7, and he 
took his stand at 
Har-per's Fer-ry, 
and at the end of 
a month had his 
troops well in hand. 

The Con-fed-er- 
ate Ear-ly tried to 
lure him up the vale 
that he might flank 
him, but Sher-i-dan 
was too shrewd for 
him, and kept a close 
watch on the foe. 

Grant went to see 
him, and to view 
the land. Sher-i- 
dan told him that 
he wished to move 
on the foe at once, 
and was sure he 

could whip them. Grant said, ''Go in!" for he had 
great faith in Sher-i-dan, and knew that he would 
not fail in what he set out to do. 




GEN-ER-AL SHER-I-DAN. 



2ib 



The Battles of America. 



Then Sher-i-dan went out to meet Ear-Iy, and the 
two hnes met at O-pe-quan Creek, a few miles east of 
Win-ches-ter. Sher-i-dan kept a close watch, and 
when, on Sep-tem-ber i8, Ear-ly sent half his force to 




TROOPS CROSS-ING THE SHEN-AN-DO-AH VAL-LEY. 

Mar-tins-burg, Sher-i-dan at once put his force un-der 
arrns, and at three o'clock the next morn set out for 
Win-ches-ter. 

Here a fierce fight was fought, but at last Ear-ly was 



With Sheridan. 



217 



put 
the 



to flight, and Sher-i-dan chased him quite out of 
Shen-an-do-ah Val-ley, and through the gaps of 



^'^'i\ 

*;^'^ 

^-^^r 




SHER-I-DAN AT CE-DAR CREEK. 



the Bkie Ridge. Then he came back to Stras-burg, 
and took his stand on the north side of Ce-dar Creek. 



ZIO 



The Battles of America. 



In Oc-to-ber, a lot of fresh troops were sent to Ear- 
ly, and on the night of the i8th he crossed the hills 
and the north Fork of the Shen-an-do-ah. The next 
morn, in the dark, and, with a dense fog to hide him, he 
swept down on the left flank of the Un-ion troops, and 
seized the large guns that were to guard the whole line. 

The Un-ion troops fell back in great fear, and with 
great loss. 

At this time Sher-i-dan was at Win-ches-ter, at 
least a score of miles a- way, and as soon as he heard 
of the fight he set out at once for Stras-burg. He 
rode at break-neck speed, and came up with his men 
near New-town. They were like a wild mob, and 
were in haste to reach a safe place. 

Sher-i-dan, with sword in hand, screamed out to 
them, " Turn back, boys ! Turnback! We'll lick them 
yet!" and moved by the sound of his voice they turned 
back just in time to meet a fierce charge from the foe^ 
and to drive them quite out of the Shen-an-do-ah Val- 
ley. Ear-ly's force was a great wreck ; and with the 
few troops he had left he fled by night to Lynch-burg. 

The fame of Sher-i-dan's great deed, known as 
Sher-i-dan's Ride, rang through the land, and won 
him much praise. The eyes of all the North were 
now on Phil. Sher-i-dan — the brave horse-man — 
who was yet to stand on the sun-crowned height, side 
by side with Grant and Sher-man. 



With Sheridan. 219 

Through the win-ter the roads were so bad that the 
troops could not march, or move their big guns, and 
they had to spend the most of their time in their camps. 
But this was not the case all through the South, for 
the war was still kept up. 

Sher-man held Johns-ton in check, while Grant 
kept a close watch on Lee. In the spring of 1 865 Grant 
feared, from signs that he saw, that Lee meant to slip 
out of Rich-mond some dark night, join Johns-ton, 
and strive to crush Sher-man. So he told his chiefs 
to keep a sharp look-out, and sent word to Sher-i-dan 
to join him at once, for there would be need of his 
horse-men. 

It was the 26th of March when Sher-i-dan reached 
City Point. His men were worn out, and so were his 
steeds, not a few of whom had lost their shoes on the 
way. They had to be shod and put in good trim, 
and a few days of rest made them feel fresh and strong 
once more. 

Grant told Sher-man that his plan was to seize 
Five Forks, drive the foe from Pe-ters-burg and 
Rich-mond, and end the war right there. 

Sher-i-dan's face lit, and with a slap on his leg he 
said, 'T am glad to hear it, and we can do it!" 

All through the month of March there had been so 
much rain that the roads were not fit to use. But by 
the 29th, the ground had had a chance to dry and 



220 The Battles of A^nerica. 

Grant moved out with as much of his force as he dared 
take up the road to Five Forks. 

But the rain set in once more, and in a short time 
the roads were in a bad state. Some-times a horse 
or mule would stand on what seemed to be firm 
ground. Then all at once one foot would sink, and 
as he tried to scratch his way out all his feet would 
sink, and he would have to be drawn by hand out of 
the quick-sands. 

Sher-i-dan moved to Din-wid-die Court-House on 
the night of March 30, and took the road north-west 
to Five Forks. He had none but his horse-men 
with him, and on the way he fell in with some Con- 
fed-er-ate horse-men, and it went hard with him for 
a while. He at last drove them back ; but when near 
Five Forks fell in with more troops and the same 
horse-men, and was forced to give way, and fell back 
to the Court-House. 

Sher-i-clan sent w^ord to Grant of the plight he was 
in, and War-ren's corps set out on the 31st to lend 
him aid. But War-ren was too slow to suit Sher-i- 
dan, who went out to meet him, and led the whole 
force him-self He then pushed on to Five Forks. 
Ayres charged on the right, Mer-ritt on the front, 
and Grif-fin on the left with such force that they broke 
through a part of the Con-fed-er-ate line, and seized 
more than 1000 men. Mean- while Craw-ford came 



Battle of Petersburg. 



221 



up and cut off the road by which they might have 
fled to Lee's hnes, struck them in the rear, and seized 
four of their large guns. 

Though hard pressed, the Con-fed-er-ates fought 
well and held their ground. But at last Sher-i-dan 
with all his horse-men charged o-ver the works with 
such a fierce dash that the Con-fed-er-ates threw 
down their arms, and fled pell-mell down the west- 
ward road. Sher-i-dan drove them till night closed 
in, and then he and Gen-er-al Miles camped on the 
ground they had won from the foe. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

PETERSBURG: APRIL 2, 1865. 

In June, 1864, Gen-er-al Grant 
made up his mind to move from 
Cold Har-bor, on the Chick-a-hom- 
i-ny, to some point on the south side 
of the James Riv-er. He and Sher- 
i-dan had had some hard fights with 
Lee's troops, the loss had been 
great and the gain small, and he 
felt it was not safe for them to stay 
where they were. 
On the night of the 12th, part of the force set out 




JEF-FER-SON DA-VIS. 



222 



The Battles of America. 



for White House, where they 
once for Cit-y Point. Some of 
Brido^e crossed the stream on 
and drove off the men on guar 




BEN-JA-MIN F. BUT-LER. 



stones, and on the 13th, Grant 
boats sunk as high up the 
troops could guard them, and 
hands of the foe. 



were to take boats at 
the horse-men at Long 
foot through the mud 
d there. A bridge of 
boats was then 
built, and the next 
day all of Grant's 
troops were on the 
south side of the 
James. 

It was known 
that Lee had some 
gun-boats at Rich- 
mond, and these 
might run down 
at night and do 
^: much harm ere 
I they could be sunk 
by the Un-ion fleet. 
So Gen-er-al But- 
ler, with wise fore- 
thought, had filled 
some boats with 
sent word to have these 
stream as the Un-ion 
keep them out of the 



Battle of Petersbtiror. 



22^ 



On June 25, Burn-side be-gan to lay a mine to blow 
up the Con-fed-er-ate forts in front of him, and a-round 
Pe-ters-burg. He spoke to Grant and Meade of his 




THE HOUSE WHERE GEN-ER-AL LEE SUR-REN-DERED. 

scheme, and they thought it a good one, as It would 
-give the men some work to do. 

The mine was charged, and July 30 was the day 
set for it to be touched off. It was done, the fort, its 
guns, and 300 men were thrown high in air, and a 



224 * ^^^^ Battles of America. 

great hole was left in the earth, full loo feet in length, 
and from 20 to 30 feet in depth. 

Then the great Un-ion guns poured their fire 
through the gap, but for some cause the scheme did 
not work well, and no good was gained by it. Grant 
lost 4000 of his men, most of whom were caught 
by the foe ere they could get back to their own 
lines. 

In the spring of 1865, Lee w^as at Pe-ters-burg, and 
had built a strong line of earth-works there, where he 
meant to fight his last fight, and "hold the fort." 

By A-pril 2, Grant had his troops well fixed in 
a long line that stretched from the Ap-po-mat-tox 
to the James. 

That night a storm of bomb-shells was kept up 
in front of Pe-ters-burg, and the next morn, at day- 
break the Un-ion troops stormed its walls. Though 
checked now and then, they pushed their way 
through the Con-fed-er-ate lines, and drove the foe 
at all points. 

On the same day the South-side Rail-way was 
struck at three points, and this was a great blow to 
Lee, who was now shut in-to the line of works close 
to Pe-ters-burg. Long-street went to his aid, and 
tried to win back some of the lost ground. But he 
could not do it, and at half past ten o'clock on Sun- 
day morn-ing — A-pril 2 — he sent word to Jeff. Da- 



Battle of Petersburg. 



22 



vis that he could not hold Pe-ters-burg, and would 
have to leave it that day. 

Da-vis was at church when the word came to him, 




GEN-ER-AL LEe's FARE-WELL TO HIS SOL-DIERS. 

and it did not take him lonor to get out of Rich-mond. 
Lee moved to A-me-lia Court-House, and Grant 
set out to meet him. A few sharp fights were had on 
the way, but at last on the 9th Lee set up a white flag. 



226 



The Battles of A m erica. 



Grant and Lee met at the house of a Mr. McLean, 
at Ap-po-mat-tox Court-House. When Grant left 
his camp that morn he had no thought that Lee would 
give up the fight so soon. So he was with-out his 




RU-INS OF RICH-MOND AF-TER THE WAR. 



sword, and had on the loose blouse that he wore 
when on horse-back on the field. 

When Grant reached the house he found Lee there. 
The two shook hands, and then took their seats. 
Lee had on a brand new un-i-form, with the bars and 
straps that told his rank, and at his side hung a fine 



228 The Battles of A mei'ica. 

sword, the gift of the State of Vir-gln-ia. He was 
six feet high, and had a fine face and form, and was 
much thought of by his troops, and was, in fact, the 
hero of the South. 

When he gave up the fight it was the death-blow 
to their cause, and the end of the four- years' war that 
had cast its blight through the whole land. 

Terms were made, and soon the dawn of peace set 
in, and men laid down their swords and guns, and 
went back to their homes and fire-sides, to their farms 
and trades. 

I have not told you of all the fights that took place 
in the four years that the North and South were at war. 
The list is a long one — 107 in all — some of which 
were on sea and some on shore, some on the coast and 
some in-land, so that the whole U-ni-ted States was 
stained with blood. 

Love peace, hate strife, put your trust in God, and 
fear not: 

For He will help 3'ou in the fra}/ 
And give you strength to win the day. 



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